A Less Civilized Age
by Kayarde
Summary: It started with an unplanned (crash-) landing on Tatooine and somehow Obi-Wan Kenobi was forced to train another highly talented and entirely unexpected apprentice who just had to be another Skywalker. Time Travel (CW Obi-Wan ends up in ANH)
1. Chapter 1

O Tempora! O Mores!  
_by Kayarde_

After the siege of Ryloth was over Jedi Master and General of the Clone Army Obi-Wan Kenobi was glad to finally return home. The battle had been messy, bloody and in general quite unpleasant but luckily it counted as a victory for the republic. Never mind that in this civil war between Republic and Separatists there could never be victors, only survivors. The Jedi did their duty as protectors of the Republic and served as Generals in the army and as a result the numbers of Jedi dwindled to an all-time low of barely more than after the last Sith war. It was tragic.

Obi-Wan looked out of his cockpit at the desert world that shrank behind him. A large orange orb that glowed in the surrounding darkness. On the night side of the planet he could still see the fires burning from the recent fighting. He thought to the village where he fought and to the little Twi'lek girl that had taken a shine to Waxer and Boil. She was far to young to have experienced war. It was always the innocent and the young that got caught up between the fronts who suffered the most in war.

Ahsoka, too, was far to young to be fighting in the war. But with the Jedi in high demand they were no longer able to make differences based on a Padawan's age. So Anakin and Ahsoka were more often than not deployed to the frontlines. Now Anakin would stay behind on Ryloth to deal with the aftermath of the battle and help the clones with the repairs and to boost the morale of the troops.

He would make a greater mess of the situation, of that was Obi-Wan sure but with any luck the two of them would be able to get some downtime without fighting. Obi-Wan would have loved to stay with them but he had to report back to the council on his own and it was a sign of trust that they let Anakin handle this situation on his own. Hopefully the young man would understand it as such.

Anakin had been slightly grumpy when Obi-Wan had climbed into his fighter but never the less the goodbye had been warm. Now entering hyperspace Obi-Wan allowed himself a small proud smile. Anakin had grown up into a great man and an exceptional Jedi. He still had a temper and it flared at the slightest provocation but he had his heart at the right place.

Preparing for the hour long journey Obi-Wan settled into a meditation in an attempt to center himself properly in the Force. Only to be hustled back into awareness by an anomaly in space. His ship's electronics flared to live and blared in an aggrivating cacophony. He was hurtled back into real space and with great effort he managed to crash land on the dustball nearest to him. That planet just happened to be Tatooine. Obi-Wan desperately wanted to kick something but council masters should not act on their anger.

He understood his Padawan's dislike of that place. It was full of sand and it was unbearably hot and worst of all it was under the control of the Hutts. These creatures had their slimy thick fingers in every criminal activity in the entire galaxy. Never the less he had little choice considering that his fighters engines were about to blow up if he hadn't landed.

Obi-Wan thought of himself as lucky that he had had a mechanical inclined Padawan. So over their decade together the master did learn quite a lot about machines from his student. Because of his Padawan's obsession he was now able to fix most of his fighter's problems alone in the middle of a desert somewhere in the outer rim.

But the problem he was facing here was far beyond his capabilities. Obi-Wan doubted that even Anakin would have been able to get the star fighter of the ground anytime soon. Obi-Wan needed a new ship or at least a passage into the core regions and that meant he would have to go into a town. On a planet full of bounty hunters and questionable businessmen that didn't seem like the best idea especially since a certain Separatist leader had put an obscenely high bounty on one's head. Somewhere in his cargo hold he had some necessary supplies and since hiding one's face was considered good manners on Tatooine the Jedi Master should be able to avoid attention.

"Arfour show me a map of the area." Obi-Wan commanded his astromech droid and a hologram appeared. The nearest city was Mos Eisley not even one hour walk from his current position. It probably wasn't any different than Mos Espa and so money matters couldn't be solved with Republican Credits. But after that messy business during the Blockade of Naboo Obi-Wan had made it a habit of always carrying intergalactic accepted currency on his person.

By the time he was in the city Obi-Wan could really sympathise with Anakin's dislike of sand. It really got everywhere and by now it felt as if he was carrying the entire Tatooine desert in his boots. Even Arfour whistled in annoyance. The droid got sand in her circuits. Obi-Wan tried not to dwell on the fact that by now he could understand what that droid said. It was a side effect that came with spending to much time around Anakin Skywalker and his connection to everything mechanical. He even thought that Artoo had a personality.

After trying to buy a ship off this dust ball Obi-Wan found out that he didn't have enough money to buy one. The prices seemed to have exploded since the beginning of the war. There weren't any decent ships for sale under ten thousand and even with haggling he doubted the price would go down to his meagre budget. For five thousand one could get a bucket of bolts like the scrap-heap Anakin named Twilight. But since he hadn't Anakin's mechanical genius he doubted he could get the ship even of the ground. So searching for a lift was his only option.

One of the scrap-dealers pointed him to a cantina where freighter pilots drank their way through their payment. Even the Force nudged him in that direction. The place was built from the same sand coloured stone as everything else on this frying pan of a planet and looked quite run down. A red coloured speeder was parked in front. Ordering Arfour to wait outside and electroshock anybody who might want to steel a droid he pulled his hood deeper into his face. Being recognized would bring a whole lot of complications he absolutely didn't need.

Obi-Wan stepped into the shadowed hallway and promptly ran into a kid who stood there and goggled into the cantina. Making it look like he shoved the boy out of the way he walked up to the bar keeper and ordered a drink. Asking around it soon became clear that none of these pilots would travel anywhere near the core regions. He sighed taking a sip from his glass.

His focus returned to the kid who just sent his protocol droid and a little Artoo unit out of the door. The force nudged in the back of his mind to keep an eye on the boy like he somehow attracted trouble. True to his instincts he watched the boy as he picked a fight with two nasty looking aliens. An old man tried to prevent the situation from becoming ugly and it ended with a severed arm and a blue lightsaber glowing in the twilight of the bar.

Obi-Wan grinned behind his drink. One could always trust in the Force; it led him right to another Jedi. The old man was probably a Jedi Master and the kid his Padawan. He couldn't get a reading on the master's presence that meant he possessed strong shields, the kind of which were rarely thought outside of the council. So he could probably trust the old man. Although the boy had no shielding whatsoever he shone brightly in the Force, nearly as strong as Anakin. Therefore he could rule out the possibility that they were Darksiders. He got up and followed the pair to a table were a Wookie and another human were seated. Obi-Wan took up a position near the niche so he could follow the conversation if he enhanced his hearing with the Force.

"Chewwie tells me you want to the Alderaan system." The man who introduced himself as Han Solo raised his eyebrow inquisitively.

"That's right." The old Jedi answered. "If you have a fast ship"

"A fast ship?" Solo sounded indignant. "Have you never heard of the Millennium Falcon? That ship made the Kessel-Run in less than twelve parsec, if that means something to you. I even shook off the imperial star ships and I'm not talking about the local traffic cruisers. I mean the over dimensional Correllian ones. Fast enough for you old man." Obi-Wan frowned; Imperial star ships? Last time he checked there was no Empire anywhere near Tatooine not even in the entire Sector.

After a pause Solo inquired: "What freight?"

"Myself, the boy, two droids and no questions asked." The Spacer chuckled at the answer from the Jedi.

At that point Obi-Wan decided to join in on the conversation. "Make those three passengers and three droids." He took a seat next to the old master. "And no questions either."

At that the old Jedi pressed his deactivated lightsaber into Obi-Wan's side. There was no malice or evil intent coming from the old Master but a sense of caution permeated the Force around the table. Slowly he pulled his hood back and revealed the hilt of his own lightsaber to the other Jedi. The old master's face lit up in recognition and confusion then he nodded. "Three passengers and three droids" The young student stared at his master in bewilderment.

Even the captain looked quite surprised at this new development until the wheels in his mind turned back to business. "Ok. That's ten thousand for all of you together, in advance."

"Ten thousand?" the kid exclaimed shocked. "We could by the ship for that." The boy was in the motion of getting up but his master dragged him back down. Obi-Wan could sympathize with the master's exasperated look. It was the kind of behavior typical for boys in their late teens. Anakin had exhibited it quite frequently.

"Five thousand now and another ten when we reach our destination" Obi-Wan offered.

Raising an eyebrow Solo accepted. "Fifteen? Fine, you got your ship. Landing platform ninety-four; come as soon as you are ready."

They quickly and quietly left the Cantina to collect their droids. On their way out they nearly ran into soldiers clad in the uniform of Clone troopers and only the old Master's weird behaviour kept him from approaching them and asking for a ride back to Coruscant. The old man practically dragged him into the opposite direction.

"What was that about?" Obi-Wan questioned the Jedi. The old man looked around to observe their surroundings making sure no one could eardrop.

"Yes." The boy exclaimed. "What the hell is going on? And who is this suspicious guy?" He pointed at Obi-Wan. The master turned towards his apprentice.

"Luke, go ahead and start searching for a merchant who could be willing to buy your speeder." The boy frowned in confusion but nodded and followed his Master's instructions. The older Jedi pulled Obi-Wan into a dark alley. If he hadn't felt the benevolent intentions from the other man he would have drawn his lightsaber. Nevertheless the instincts honed by the war kept him on alert.

The man looked over his shoulder. "Those soldiers aren't the clones you know, Master Obi-Wan. These men are storm troopers, soldiers of the Empire."

"Empire? That's the second time I've heard about it. But last time I checked there wasn't an Empire around Tatooine anywhere." Slowly Obi-Wan began to wonder if it had been the right decision to join the old man on their journey to Alderaan. Perhaps that was the reason he hadn't seen him in the temple before. Perhaps he was an exiled Jedi who had become mentally instable and thus lived as a hermit somewhere in the desert.

"Well that's because the last time you checked was over twenty years ago." A dry smile blossomed on the old Jedi's face.

"Sorry? Well that-" Now it was official he had come across a senile Jedi.

"-sounds like complete and utter nonsense and you believe that I'm crazy." The other man finished Obi-Wan's sentence with a wry smile.

"Something along the line." he answered.

"I can prove it to you." The Jedi smiled reassuringly. "Close your eyes and open your right hand."

How would the old man prove such an unbelievable thesis like he had travelled twenty years into the future? So Obi-Wan decided to humour the other Jedi and held up his opened hand. "Feel" He was instructed as a cylindrical object was placed in his hand. He reached out with the Force and the Force signature in the crystals was unmistakable. Shocked he opened his eyes. That was his lightsaber lying in his hand. He reached with his left hand for the hilt on his belt and brought that up to compare them. The same design, identical down to the last screw, the only difference was that the blade in his right hand looked more worn than his own. How was this possible? He looked at the man across from him. He looked smaller than Obi-Wan but not because of growth but because it seemed as if the weight of the entire galaxy lay on his shoulders. The hair had grown white prematurely because of stress and another reason Obi-Wan could easily name as Anakin. But the steel blue eyes still held the intelligence and hope for a better universe Obi-Wan saw when looking into a mirror; hope that had been there as a young Padawan and as it seemed would still be there when he had grown old.

"Great, Anakin is right. I'm old." A dry half smile appeared on his face mirrored by a sad one on his older self's face. "What happened?"

"Not here. I'll explain when we are in hyperspace. Now our priority is to get off this sandy excuse for a planet."

"I couldn't agree more" postponing the discussion was the most sensible thing to do in their situation especially because the stormtroopers seemed to be after Kenobi and his student. Stepping out into the busier streets both Jedi Masters pulled their hoods deeper into their face.

After Luke had sold his landspeeder they made it to the ship relatively unscathed considering that they had been shot at.

Disclaimer: The Star Wars Universe belongs to George Lucas. No wait he sold it to Disney. Anyway it isn't mine.  
AN: This is work in progress and I write when I have time which isn't often. I try to update once a month but I can't promise anything. Have fun reading.


	2. Chapter 2

The calming hum of the hyperspacegenerator signified that they had escaped the system and were now safely travelling towards Alderaan. Solo was an excellent pilot nearly on par with Anakin and he had proven it. He also reminded Obi-Wan why he hated flying so much. He loathed it when someone else sat behind the controls especially when they were so reckless. Obi-Wan left Captain Solo in the cockpit. The pilot was still fine-tuning their hyperspace route which should take at least a few minutes. With the intention to rejoin Kenobi and Luke and to finally get some answers out of the old man he made his way deeper into the freighter.

Obi-Wan leaned against the doorway as he observed the people in the common room.

Chewbacca and the Artoo unit were playing Dejarik with the protocol droid giving more or less helpful advice.

Arfour had plugged into the ships computer and from the sound of it she flirted with the Millennium Falcon. Obi-Wan tried not to dwell on it.

Luke was training with a remote that was programmed to fire stinging shots. Where Kenobi had produced it from was a mystery. Obi-Wan frowned. This was an exercise for younglings who have yet to see their tenth birthday. Luke was old enough to be a senior Padawan who should have mastered the basics of Force-use years ago.

His arms folded he pinned Kenobi with an intense stare. Every other being would have turned away but his older self met the look unflinchingly. "I believe you owe me an explanation."

"I did promise I would give you some answers. But let's take that discussion somewhere else." Kenobi turned towards his student. "Luke keep up with your exercise this might take a while."

Luke looked confused but returned his focus back to the remote. The boy would have a lot of questions when they came back.

Kenobi led Obi-Wan deeper into the ship until they found a quiet corner in the cargo area.

They settled on crates and an awkward silence stretched between them. Where should they start? What did Obi-Wan miss?

Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did these things always happen to him? Why did he always have to be there when there was a shatter point in the Force? The re-emerging of the Sith, finding the Clone Army, the Battle of Geonosis, and now so shortly after being seated on the council the Force decided to drop him in the future. Somehow he got the feeling that whatever was going to happen he would be in the middle of that too.

"Where were you before ending up on Tatooine?" Kenobi asked carefully as if he too didn't really know where to start.

"I was on my way back to report to the council after the siege on Ryloth."

"It was Ahsoka's first mission as a squad leader, wasn't it?"

"Yes, and Anakin destroyed the majority of his fleet and ended up in an escape pod." Obi-Wan sighed. He still didn't want to know how he managed that one. Kenobi on the other hand had an amused halfsmile on his face, a smile of someone who remembered a half forgotten memory. It must have been years since the older man had recalled a memory such as this.

"So you missed about twenty-one years." Astonished Obi-Wan met the tired gaze of his counterpart. Two whole decades. What did happen to him to let him age so rapidly? Normally Jedi Masters in their mid-fifties didn't look that old.

"How am I ever supposed to go back?" He asked after a short silence.

Kenobi broke eye contact and whispered: "I'm not sure if there is even a going back. There is the theory that the flow of time just moves in one direction and that it wasn't you who did the travelling but that you were removed from the flow of time for two decades and re-entered it now. You might be stuck here for better or worse." But he had to go back. There was the Order and Anakin and Ahsoka and the little Nautolan girl he wanted to take as an apprentice when she would be old enough. He had responsibilities and people counting on him.

Trying to find a flaw in the theory Obi-Wan asked. "How did you come up with that idea so quickly?"

"I lived the last nineteen years as a hermit in the Tatooine desert. There isn't much else to do but to meditate or to contemplate the nature of the Force and the universe." So in a way Kenobi had been removed from time as well. And again an uncomfortable silence stretched between the two men.

For a moment both Jedi were lost in thought when Kenobi gave Obi-Wan a questioning look. "It could work."

The younger master raised his eyebrow. "What could work?"

"To pass you off as my son."

"What?" Now both of Obi-Wan's eyebrows disappeared in his hair.

"Or would you rather explain to everyone that you travelled through time?"

Oh yes that would be such a great idea. It had been hard enough for him to believe in time travel when he had the Force to verify the facts but normal people would think he was crazy.

Obi-Wan did a quick calculation. He was thirty-three minus the twenty-one he had missed would have made him eleven or twelve during the Siege of Ryloth. So where had he been eleven years before that? When he remembered he groaned.

"Let's say I went with your story, that would mean I would have been conceived shortly after the Naboo Crisis." Somehow that gave the story a bit more plausibility. Back then he certainly had the right mind-set to commit such a transgression of the code. As a matter of fact he did try to find solace in a woman's arms when he had been back on Coruscant. Finding sexual release wasn't forbidden per se, just discouraged, as it was an instinct most beings had but to have a committed long-term relationship or Force forbid to sire a child was a guaranty for a swift kick out of the Jedi Order. "No one would even question my name since there are a lot of cultures were it is common to name a son after his father. It might work."

Kenobi had a barely visible smile on his face. "You grew up with your mother on Coruscant and were never tested. She died sometime during the Clone Wars and after the fall of the republic you found me on Tatooine where I taught you the ways of the Force. You left in your early twenties to travel the galaxy and only now wanted to check on me."

And just like that Obi-Wan got a background, a story he could easily fill with details from his past and they wouldn't seem to far out of place. He did a lot of travelling in his twenties.

But why would he need such a background story in the first place? He probably could just pose as another Force sensitive like thousands of others across the galaxy. Or he could just ask the council to verify his story through the Force. So why would Kenobi risk his standing in the Jedi Order like that? Keeping his questions to himself Obi-Wan decided to humour the old master.

"Now that I have a believable background I need to know what happened during the last twenty years."

Kenobi looked pained and the look in his eyes was that of a nearly broken man. He sighed deeply before he answered Obi-Wan's question. "About three years after Geonosis the republic fell. Anakin killed Dooku and we thought the end of the war was finally within reach but it turned out that Palpatine was the Sith Master and using his apprentice Dooku he played both sides of the war."

Obi-Wan felt more ill with each word Kenobi uttered. All that bloodshed was Palpatine's fault and Obi-Wan had allowed Anakin to cultivate a friendship with a damn Sith Master.

"Like a puppetmaster he pulled the strings moving his pieces into place right where he needed them. And we Jedi in our arrogance and naivety actually believed we had some measure of control in this war. We followed the Sith Lord blindly and made the instalment of the empire even easier. Now Palpatine declared himself Emperor."

"Why didn't the Jedi prevent the rise of this empire?" He barely dared to ask.

"We would have but we were betrayed by our own troops, the clones shot us in the back. The entire war was merely a means to separate and isolate us from each other. It was the perfect trap. And Palpatine's new apprentice Darth Vader took an entire legion of clone troopers into the temple. It was slaughter. They spared no one, even the younglings were cut down where they stood." The old man took a deep breath his eyes suspiciously wet and yet dry as if he had no tears left and now more then ever Obi-Wan could see the weight that laid on the old man's shoulders. "Today there are barely more than a handful of Jedi left in the galaxy. We are all but extinct."

"But there are ten thousand Jedi Knights. We couldn't have been eradicated so completely. We can't be extinct." Obi-Wan was pleading now. The Jedi were his family. They couldn't be gone. "What about Anakin? If anybody could have pulled through it's him. There have to be more Jedi who survived."

"I only know of Master Yoda and myself." He said with a finality and unimaginable sadness in his voice as he rose from his crate, his bones cracking and joints protesting. Obi-Wan clenched his hands to prevent them from shaking.

"I am so sorry." Kenobi apologized and laid his hand reassuringly on Obi-Wan's shoulder before he returned to his apprentice leaving his younger self to his thoughts.

It took a few minutes to sink in. The Force offered no comfort as it felt darker than ever in his life. It only verified what Kenobi had told him. Now that he was alone he finally suffered the breakdown that had been in the making since he found out that he had landed in the future.

Obi-Wan was shaking, his shoulders slumped forward as he pressed himself into a corner between the crates. He was crying, weeping for his lost family and the only coherent thought that went through his mind was that Anakin his brother in all but blood was gone. He, Obi-Wan, had allowed that Sith to go near his apprentice. He had enabled Palpatine to lure Anakin in and to stab him in the back and now he couldn't go back, return to his own time to save him.

He felt so ignorant, so stupid. It hurt so much like his heart had been ripped from his chest.

They were all gone, his family massacred by the Sith. He had lost everything to the Sith, his master, the woman he loved, the boy he raised, his apprentice, his brother, his son. He wanted to make Palpatine suffer, to hurt him, to cut him in two like he did with Darth Maul. No, he wanted to gut him and slowly dissect him. Anything to drown his pain. What he felt was beyond anger. Never in his life had he felt such pure, ice cold hatred. Like liquid oxygen it froze up his entrails.

The Dark Side of the Force extended its seductive ribbons trying to entrap him, to pull him into its black depths. A shiver travelled down his spine and Obi-Wan came to his senses. He took a deep breath and made a mental step away from the dark abyss he had nearly jumped into. Falling to the Dark Side would have been a great way to remember Anakin and the Jedi, Obi-Wan berated himself. He made another step back. He needed to get his emotional turmoil under control. The tears still flowing down his cheeks. He needed to touch the Light Side, to work through his feelings, he needed it's comfort.

Slowly he came out of his corner between the crates and sat down for a proper meditation. Brushing away his tears with his sleeve he prepared himself for some long hours.

It took Obi-Wan the better part of the day to sort through the grief, the pain, the anger, the Hate. When he finally emerged from the cargo hold and returned to the common room the Falcon was already nearing its destination. He wasn't feeling any better but at least he wasn't in immediate danger to Fall.

Luke was training with the remote again under Kenobi's supervision. The droids had started another game against the Wookie and Han Solo was grumbling under his breath something about luck, tricks and ancient religions. The younger Jedi master leaned against the wall next to Kenobi.

"Out of curiosity, how long exactly have you been training him?" Obi-Wan raised his eyebrow in question.

The wizened Jedi master looked grateful for the change of topic. "I started with his training today." And he had such a instinctive grasp on the Force that he could already feel it flowing through him. Obi-Wan hadn't seen such raw talent since he had been introduced to Anakin.

Focusing on Obi-Wan Luke lost his concentration for a second and promptly missed a blaster bolt that hit him in the rear.

It would have been funny if the Force hadn't screamed that moment. Obi-Wan's laugh stuck in his throat as he suddenly had problems to get enough air to simply breathe. His heart clenched in pain and if he hadn't been leaning against the wall he would have lost his balance. Billions of voices silenced, the terrified echoes of their screams lingered for a moment within the Force before they too disappeared. He had been fighting on more planets and had been in more battles than he cared to remember and death had become a constant companion in his life but never for as long as that war had been going on had Obi-Wan felt such a massive loss of life or the agony that pulsed through the Force.

Kenobi too had lost his balance and now Luke stood next to his Master looking concerned. Something terrible had happened.

Obi-Wan had to sit down and with his head between his knees he tried to get his erratic breathing under control and to regain his bearing.

When he looked up again he met Luke's concerned and enquiring gaze.

"I guess it's time for an introduction." Kenobi gesticulated in Obi-Wan's direction. "This is Obi-Wan Kenobi the younger." Obi-Wan took the offered hand. It was really disturbing to think that now everybody would think he was his own son or even better Kenobi's clone. Which in a way he was. But pondering on that just brought forth a splitting headache.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi meet Luke Skywalker." Oh no, Anakin you did not-

And then with a smirk Kenobi added: "He's Anakin's son, you know."

He did...

Before his brain had the chance to process that lovely piece of information the computer announced that they were coming in on Alderaan.

And the ship came out of hyperspace right into an asteroid field. Only Solo's manoeuvres saved them from getting smashed to pieces and now he had to hunt down what seemed to be an imperial starfighter, another reckless manoeuvre.

Reckless. Why did all pilots have to be so reckless? Now this one landed them in a tractor beam.

AN: OK for those of you who read the first version of chapter 2, you'll probably have noticed that the chapter is now completely different. I wasn't happy with the narration in version 1. But I have to thank potterfanforever for your reviews. Those gave me the inspiration to rewrite this chapter. So thank you very much and I hope for more constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I normally but my notes at the end of a chapter but I made an **update** on **chapter 2**. Meaning I pretty much threw the first version in the trashcan. So I'd advice you to go back and read it again. It'll help to understand some things said and done in this chapter and the following. I hope you enjoy reading.

In the smuggling compartment on the Millennium Falcon Obi-Wan could hear the distinctive clanking sound the clone troop… stormtroopers armor made when they trampled above the compartment he was in. Obi-wan had to mentally correct himself. These were not the clone troopers he fought with during the war, he could not honestly say if these where clones at all or just natural born people. He could probably scan them with the force to find out but that would not be wise at the moment.

He supressed his Force signature, a habit most Jedi had developed within the first few weeks of the war. So he was confused when he felt Kenobi release his tight hold over his Force presence and practically flared it. What was the old man thinking?

They opened the covers of their hiding place when the last stormtrooper left the ship.

Solo may be a reckless pilot but as a smuggler he knew what he was doing. So they solved one problem. They got in undetected. But that was the easy part it was getting out that would bring complications, as always. "Even if I could take off I'd be glued to the tractor beam." This annoyed Solo greatly.

Obi-Wan hauled himself out of the compartment before he helped Kenobi out. "Then we'll just have to shut it off."

"Easier said than done. Now do you have a plan on how we might do that? Just waltz in there and ask them nicely?"

"First we need uniforms so we can move undetected then we procure the layout of this space station and then we waltz in there and ask them nicely." It was easy to slip back into the role of a Clone Wars general.

To get the astromechs to a computer terminal proved easier than expected. They had secured the command office of the docking bay and Artoo was already hacking the imperial computers. Arfour on the other hand downloaded information on the Empire, its history, command structure, people of interest and anything Obi-Wan might need to know. He would have to work his way through the information when he had time to breathe.

For know everything went off without a hitch but Obi-Wan was sure the inevitable complications would arise sooner or later. Especially since Solo liked to approach a problem the same way Anakin did, storm in blasters blazing and fire at everything that moves.

Obi-Wan changed into the uniform of the unconscious officer whom they had stuffed into a broom closet. It would be far less suspicious than the robes of the extinct Jedi order.

"I didn't know Ben had a son." Luke said as he joined Obi-Wan in hiding the corpse of the other officer.

Obi-Wan gave the corpse another shove and closed the door. "Having a child is not something a Jedi should shout from the rooftops. Before the Empire you could get expelled from the Jedi Order for having a child and after that he had the entire Empire on his tail."

"Why was it wrong to have children as a Jedi?" Luke was an inquisitive young man but when he was puzzled his expression was a lot like Padme's. Apart from the colouring he did look a lot more like Padme then Anakin.

"The explanation would take to long right now, but it has to do with a Jedi's perception of the Force and the consequences." Now that facial expression meant that they would get back to that question sometime in the future.

"Are you a Jedi?"

"As much as one can be Jedi in these dark times." He brushed his hair back and put the naval cap on his head. Now he looked like a naval officer of the Republic. After the rise of the Empire they hadn't even bothered to change the design. They were interrupted as Artoo had found away to disengage the tractor beam. Luke turned his attention to the rest of the group.

Luke Skywalker.

He still owed Kenobi a swift kick in the shin for dropping that bombshell on his head. Of course Obi-Wan had absolutely no idea about their relationship although it involved a lot of work on the master's part to keep it that way.

Anakin's son, Obi-Wan shook his head. Not that he was really surprised. He had long since suspected where Anakin had spent most of his nights on Coruscant. That he and Padme created a child along the way was only a logical consequence. Obi-Wan had hoped that Anakin would have told him about his secret relationship with the senator. But that would never happen now. Obi-Wan looked over to the boy. Anakin would have been proud of Luke. It was sad that he didn't see his child grow up.

The boy positively glowed in the Force he was like a candle in the Dark. After he was told that the Republic, the Jedi Order and everything else that Obi-Wan ever fought for was lost it gave him hope to see Anakin's son so firmly anchored in the Light.

"He says he has found the main computer that powers the tractor beam. He'll try to show the exact location on the monitor. The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." It seemed that over the last twenty years Threepio learned to condense the relaying of information. There are still wonders in the galaxy. Obi-Wan had figured out whom the droids belonged to. There was only one perceptive and especially wilful Artoo unit that ran around with the single most annoying and clueless protocol droid in the galaxy.

"I don't think you boys can help. I must go alone." Kenobi moved towards the door.

"That's right. I've done more than I bargained for on this trip already." Han played the tough guy but underneath he was nervous. After all they were sitting on the Empire's most dangerous weapon.

Halfway to the exit Obi-Wan intercepted Kenobi. "This has nothing to do with the fact that you've broadcasted your Force signature all over the place ever since we landed, does it?"

The old man gave the young Jedi master the look. Obi-Wan knew that look. Kenobi was bound and determined to do what had to be done. The old man laid his hand on his young counterpart's shoulder to give him strength.

"I want to go with you." Luke exclaimed.

"Be patient, Luke. You must see these droids delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Keep an eye on them. Your destiny lies along a different path than mine." Obi-Wan had the feeling that he was addressed with the last two sentences. "May the Force be with you... always."

"And with you." Obi-Wan answered to the traditional farewell. And then Kenobi left and disappeared around the next corner.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Chewbacca growled something sceptical.

"You said it, Chewwie." Han exclaimed. "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

That was something Obi-Wan could agree with as he checked on Arfour's progress. Kenobi looked a lot older than he was. Obi-Wan hoped that wouldn't happen to him in the future.

"Ben is a great man!"

"Yeah great at getting us into trouble."

"I didn't hear you give any ideas..."

"Anything would be better than sitting around waiting for a patrol to pick us up."

"Who do you think-"

Artoo interrupted their squabble whistling and beeping something about how he found her, whoever that was.

"Well who has he found?"

"Princess Leia"

"The Princess? She's here?" Luke was shocked. Obi-Wan looked up from skimming through Arfour's table of contents on the Empire.

"Princess?" Han looked as confused as Obi-Wan felt.

"Level five. Detention block AA 23. I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."

"Oh, no! We've got to do something."

"What are you talking about?"

"The droids belong to her. She's the one who send the message for Ben. We've got to do something!" Luke cried.

And there it was, the first complication. Obi-Wan knew that tone far too well. Anakin had used it whenever Padme was in danger. Luke would most likely do anything to free the princess. The young Jedi master sighed. Their escape was now a rescue mission.

Those he had a lot experience with.

"Will you two stop arguing and listen to my plan?"

* * *

Obi-Wan stepped out of the lift flanked by Luke and Han both again in stormtrooper armour. Chewie stayed back to keep an eye on the Falcon and the droids out of trouble.

The officer on duty of the detention area turned away from the computer display. "Is there something you need?"

He produced the faked datapad (courtesy of Artoo) and handed it over. "Prisoner escort for Leia Organa. We are to escort the princess to her execution." He added a light Force suggestion to his words and prayed that their sham would work. Everything about that plan depended on what he knew about protocol during the Clone Wars.

"We were expecting you." The lieutenant nodded and turned to the guards. "Get the princess from her cell. She has an appointment she shouldn't miss."

Princess Leia looked tired, her white dress had stains from the ordeal she'd been through but never the less she held her head high when they led her from her cell.

The guards handed her over. Luke carefully took her arm and they left the way they came. It went off without a hitch and that was exactly the reason why Obi-Wan was nervous. Nothing ever went according to plan. It was too easy. The Force wasn't helpful at all. It constantly send warnings of an obvious and an elusive danger and the constant darkness mixed with it wasn't helping either.

"Lieutenant. Where are you going with the princess?" A voice came from an adjoining corridor.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning around. His Jedi mask, as Anakin had named that particular facial expression, slipped into place and he nearly dropped it. Admiral Yularen stood behind them.

"Escorting her to her execution, sir." He handed over the datapad and send another prayer to the Force. It had fooled the guards in the detention level but Yularen was another matter. For one he couldn't mind trick him in letting them go. As Obi-Wan stood attention his hands clasped behind his back the admiral checked the paperwork. Yularen. Meeting the man aboard the Deathstar was the last thing he'd expected. The admiral preferred a more subtle approach of solving problems, blowing up an entire planet wasn't his style. Yularen had aged better than Kenobi but he too looked old. It drove home just how much time Obi-Wan had missed.

Yularen gave Obi-Wan a scrutinizing look as if he tried to recall a distant memory only to dismiss it as unimportant. "Your documents are in order. Carry on."

"Yes sir." He saluted and they rounded a corner.

Luke let out the breath he had held. "I thought we were done for."

Obi-Wan didn't answer. He was lost in thought. Something wasn't right. The rescue was too easy.

As soon as they found an unoccupied storage room Obi-Wan unlocked the princess' handcuffs. She promptly used her newfound freedom to ram her elbow into Luke's gut, steal his rifle and hit Han's head with the butt. With the pose of a woman who knew what she was doing she pointed the stolen blaster between Obi-Wan's eyes. "I don't think so. I will not allow you to have your way with me."

He raised his hands up in surrender a wry smile on his lips. "There seems to be a slight misunderstanding."

"Oh is there?" Leia practically radiated righteous anger.

"Yes" Luke gasped still holding his stomach. It seemed the princess packed quite a punch. "We're here to rescue you."

She was taken aback but the muzzle never wavered from its position between Obi-Wan's brows. Han removed his helmet and rubbed the point where the gun had hit home. "What a way to greet your rescuers, princess."

"Are you with the rebellion?" Leia was still suspicious.

"Not really. Luke and I slithered into this mess by chance and Han here was hired to fly us to Alderaan."

"We came here with your Artoo unit and Ben Kenobi." Luke clarified.

"Kenobi? Where is he?" She asked and Han pointed at Obi-Wan.

"You're Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"Yes, though I'm not the one you intended as the recipient for your message. That one is disabling the tractor beam."

Finally she lowered the blaster. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here." She sounded like a seasoned military commander. And then they were on their way. Obi-Wan had to give it to her she was an impressive young woman who was beautiful on top of her capability.

From the way Luke looked at her Obi-Wan knew that the boy had a crush on Leia. That didn't bode well for Kenobi's sanity if Anakin's apprenticeship was any indication. Obi-Wan was just glad that he didn't have to teach another hormonal teenager.

Besides for now he had to focus on getting them out in one piece. The Force felt agitated. He had to focus on the here and now, on the task at hand. Wouldn't Master Qui-Gon be proud? If he learned anything from his missions with his old Master and Anakin it meant that something was about to really go wrong, right... now.

True to his prediction Luke's comlink went off. Threepio was on the other end of the line.

"Sir, they discovered the corpse in the command office and the other officer gave them your description and your objective. Now all systems have been alerted to your presence." And there were the other inevitable complications.

"What about you? Are you alright?"

"We are in a corridor leading to the hangar." There was some growling, beeping and the sound of shooting in the background. "Chewbacca says some backup would be appreciated." This was getting better by the minute.

And of course when you thought it couldn't get worse the galaxy just had to prove you wrong. A patrol came around one corner and another came from behind effectively cutting of any possible escape routes. The troopers froze in surprise for a few seconds before one of them regained his bearing.

"Surrender rebel scum." Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. He was used to the variation Jedi scum. The Imperials were really uncreative. They even stole the insults from the Separatists. "There is nowhere for you to run. Hands up where I can see them."

Obi-Wan raised his hands and did an inconspicuous headcount.

"What the hell are you doing?" Han whispered.

Their eyes met and Han understood something was about to happen. In preparation he tensed.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. Han reacted in a split of a second and threw Luke and Leia to the ground. Just in time as Obi-Wan released a powerful Force wave that downed the soldiers "Run!"

Obi-Wan grabbed Luke, Han pulled Leia to her feet and they legged it.

They ran down familiar corridors. Then again all these corridors looked the same. The Empire had stolen the designs from the Republic Navy, again.

Somehow all this trouble made Obi-Wan feel better because that was how rescue missions worked out for him. Trouble was good, trouble was normal and trouble meant that there wasn't a trap or that they had sprung it already.

Finally the Hangar with the Falcon came into view. The droids were on board and Chewbacca already fired up the engines. They would get out of this space station all in one piece and relatively unscathed. Now the only one missing was Kenobi.

When they were running the last few meters to the ship movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he knew he shouldn't have jinxed it. He should have learned by now through his long career as a Jedi there was always something that inevitably went wrong.

It was one of the weirdest and most disturbing experiences Obi-Wan had ever made. He ran towards the Falcon with Han, Luke and Leia and with what had to be an army of Stormtroopers at their heels when he felt the disturbance in the Force. His attention turned to an open hangar door where Kenobi and a large figure clad in black from head to toe fought in what seemed like slow motion to his Clone Wars accustomed mind. The figure radiated so much darkness Dooku would seem like a lightsider in comparison. A Sith in the purest sense, full of hatred and darkness. Luke had stopped as well and Kenobi met their gaze and simply raised his lightsaber in salute. The black figure didn't lose a second and decapitated Kenobi.

Obi-Wan barely heard Luke's shocked cry over the Force's scream. Pain stronger than anything he had ever felt ran through his entire body as Kenobi disappeared. This was worse than what any physical power or any of his enemies had ever done to him. He had just seen his own death and he felt it. It was as if his soul had been torn apart so excruciating was the agony. It was unbearable. Nausea overcame him. He lost his balance and crashed barely conscious on the metal floor. With his blackening vision he saw the Sith trample on Kenobi's robe.

With herculean effort he pulled together what concentration remained and used the Force to drag Kenobi's lightsaber into his hand. He couldn't let the Sith have it, that much he owed his older counterpart.

Cradling it to his chest he barely registered that Luke with the help of Han brought him aboard of the Falcon and took off. Somewhere in between he lost consciousness.

AN: Credit as my Beta goes to potterfanforever. You are great.  
Just one more chapter to go and then we'll finally get a large change from the canon timeline I've followed so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and had fun. Have a nice day. Kayarde.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few hours he drifted in and out of consciousness. Washed out contours, fragments of conversation meshed together, never making any sense.

When Obi-Wan finally woke up he didn't know where he was or what happened. He laid in a cot in an unfamiliar medical bay. First thing he did was to make note of all the possible escape routes and to consider how to get intelligence on this place. On the wall behind him he saw an unknown symbol that looked a bit like a crude version of the emblem of the Jedi Order.

It took some time for the memory to get back. The time travel business, the destruction of Alderaan, the Death Star, witnessing Kenobi's (his own) death…

Obi-Wan quickly sat up on his temporary bed, the suddenness of that action began to make him fill lightheaded. Swinging his legs over the cot he put his head between his knees. While he was waiting for his head to clear he noticed that beside his cot sat the stolen military jacket neatly folded on the floor with his boots, on top laid Kenobi's lightsaber. After checking on his own lightsaber which was still hidden in his sleeve of his inner tunic he relaxed. Once his head cleared he pulled his own saber out of it hiding spot and plucked the older lightsaber of the ground to compare them. They were essentially the same the only difference was that Kenobi's spoke of battles Obi-Wan had never fought and now would never get the chance. Obi-Wan's blade told of battles yet to be fought, battles Kenobi would never have to fight.

Because he was gone. The only person who knew the truth about Obi-Wan, who knew him at all was dead. Kenobi had just disappeared, literally. Never had he felt so alone before, not after the death of Qui-Gon, not when he had been captured by Ventress. He was stranded in a time not his own, in a way abandoned. It hurt to think of Kenobi's death. Obi-Wan clutched his heart; the phantom pains had subsided but were still there deep within him. He wondered if they would ever completely vanish.

A worried beeping interrupted his train of thoughts.

Obi-Wan smiled when he saw Arfour peeking curiously around a corner into his room. The droid sounded concerned. Obi-Wan shook his head, sometimes he could believe Anakin's rambling about droids having a personality. Arfour's programming was female and it sometimes felt as if Obi-Wan dealt with a mother hen. He felt fond exasperation towards the droid.

His astromech rolled over and practically shoved a datapad in his hands. From Arfour's beeping Obi-Wan concluded that it contained the information on the Empire the droid had downloaded from the Death Star computer.

It was a broad wink that he should get up to date on history. He switched the device on. Where should he start?

The Empire's chain of command caught his eye.

Of course there was Palpatine as the head of state. Obi-Wan clenched his jaw. This man was responsible for the war Obi-Wan had lost friends and family to. If he ever came face to face with the Emperor he would be hard pressed not to enact vengeance on the Sith Lord. A humorless smile spread on his lips. Palpatine's ugly soul now showed on his face. What that man had done left a bad aftertaste on Obi-Wan's tongue.

He scrolled down to the second in command and had to fight the urge to throw the datapad against the wall. Kenobi's murderer stared back at him with the black visor. Vader. The cyborg had slaughtered the Jedi, Obi-Wan's family, most likely even Anakin. Tears of fury filled his eyes and he clenched his fists. Never before did Obi-Wan hate a being with such ferocity like this menace born from the Dark Side.

It took great effort to take a step back mentally. Taking deep even breaths Obi-Wan released his emotions into the Force. Just thinking about Vader and the Jedi brought him far too close to the Dark Side for comfort.

After he calmed down he checked on people he knew from his time with the republic navy, people who might recognize him. His thoughts wandered to the encounter with Yularen. The admiral had transferred from the navy to the Imperial Security Bureau where he held the rank of a colonel. The man had probably seen the resemblance with Obi-Wan's alter ego but had dismissed it. It had been sheer dumb luck (if one believed in luck, which he did not). He should alter his appearance a bit.

He scratched his beard in thought. His beard. Without it he would look a lot younger and different.

Arfour pulled at Obi-Wan's sleeve and offered the razor hidden in her insides. He shook his head. Arfour spent far too much time with Artoo. She picked up a lot of bad habits.

He had just finished when the door to his room swished open and Princess Leia entered.

She stopped short when she noticed that Obi-Wan was awake.

"I didn't know you were awake, Knight Kenobi."

"Obi-Wan is fine. Please have a seat." She followed his invitation and moved a stool next to him.

"You seem better." She looked him over.

"I feel like death warmed over." He said a wry smile on his lips. "So what did I miss after I passed out?"

She grinned. "Not much. We escaped, they tracked us and Luke blew up the Death Star."

Major galactic history summarized in one sentence. Wait. What? His disbelief must have shown on his face since Leia explained the situation more in-depth. "We analyzed the plans hidden in Artoo and found a weakness, a small one but better than nothing. A two meter wide exhaust vent. Two pilots missed and they had used the computer and then Luke did his attack run and in the middle of it shut it off and he actually hit it. We had incredible luck."

"That was an impressive feat." That would have been a shot even Anakin would have had problems with. Luke must have used the Force. "So how is the hero doing?"

"We held a ceremony in Luke's and Han's honor earlier today. Now General Dodonna has gotten hold of him and is interrogating him and Han on every detail of the battle, again. Otherwise he would be here with me. He checked on you a few times a day. He'll be happy to see you awake." She smiled again then she became serious when she noticed the lightsabers on his bed. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Obi-Wan laid his hand on Kenobi's weapon. "Thank you. How's Luke handling it?"

"I don't think he's handling it at all. Ever since the fight with the Imps he tries his best to keep distracted."

Obi-Wan watched Leia when she clenched her fist. Apparently Luke wasn't the only one not handling his grief although Leia's pain was most likely greater than the boy's. She had lost her homeplanet and every person she had loved. He could already feel the pain transforming into anger and resolve. Leia was balancing on the edge of the abyss. If she were Force sensitive she would be in danger of falling to the Dark side.

Obi-Wan halted that train of thoughts. What if she was? Most Force sensitive probably never found out about their ability now that the Jedi were gone. Gently he extended his senses and brushed against her presence. She didn't shine in the Force like Luke did because she hid in the Force itself. The shields around her mind were strong but crude. That spoke of a lot raw talent but no training whatsoever. From what he found he couldn't be sure that she was Force sensitive but it became far more likely. If she was he would have to teach her control at the very least.

And he would have to decide what to do with Luke now that Kenobi was no longer able to teach the boy. He was too powerful to be left untrained.

"Princess Leia?" A medic called when he opened the door. "Senator Mothma wants to talk to you about something." With a look at Obi-Wan she added. "And I need to check on Knight Kenobi's progress."

The medic gave him a detailed checkup, he felt like he was turned inside out and upside down before she declared that he was getting better. She wanted to keep him in the med bay for a bit longer for observation. When Obi-Wan had been handed over into her care after arriving planet side he had shown symptoms of shock and severe exhaustion. Now that he thought about it he hadn't slept since before he crashed on Tattooine, no, since before his departure from Ryloth. He had been awake for three days before he had fallen unconscious. The healer recommended that Obi-Wan should get some more sleep before she left.

Slowly Obi-Wan drifted into the state between waking and dreaming, losing himself in the Force's currents.

Somehow the situation felt quite familiar. A young overly talented boy blows up a giant space station with next to no instruction in the ways of the Force. Both were from Tatooine and both were Skywalkers. Obi-Wan sighed. Like Father, like Son. "If history is truly repeating itself then somebody will come up to me and will ask me to teach the boy because of some special destiny." He murmured under his breath.

_"History is truly repeating itself"._ An ethereal voice said. The voice sounded suspiciously like Kenobi. His body still hurt everywhere after his death experience. So he groaned as he turned towards the disturbance he felt in the Force but nothing was there.

"Am I asleep or am I hallucinating?" Obi-Wan asked.

_"Neither" _Obi-Wan could nearly hear the self-satisfaction. Then seriousness penetrated the Force. "_I'm sorry that I have to ask this of you. But Luke is the only one with a chance to defeat Vader and if he remains untrained he is an easy target for the Dark Side. You must train him."_

Obi-Wan frowned. "You know just once I wanted to teach an apprentice I choose myself."

The Force vibrated with amusement. "_Well, I did choose him that means technically you did as well."_ With that the disturbance disappeared again.

After a few moments of silence Obi-Wan decided to turn around and resume sleeping before his brain registered what happened. Obi-Wan shot up with a start.

"Kenobi!" Obi-Wan shouted. "Get back here!"

Had this really just happen? Or was this his own subconsiousness that told him his decision before he made it? The groan that followed had nothing to do with the pain. This was just great. Anakin was – had been bold, stubborn, extremely gifted with the Force and reckless to a point where it bordered suicidal. And from what he had seen Luke was very much like his father in that regard. Qui-Gon had made him promise to train Anakin and now his own alter ego had dumped a Skywalker on his lap. In a childish gesture he pulled his blanket over his head and hid under his pillow. What had he done to deserve to teach another one?

A knock on the door interrupted Obi-Wan's annoyed musings.

A man with an impressive white beard entered uninvited who wore the uniform of a military general. Obi-Wan was tempted to ignore his manners and Force-shove the man out of his room. He really wanted to be alone right now.

The officer approached him. "Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, I am Jan Dodonna, General of the Alliance to Restore the Republic."

"A pleasure" Obi-Wan took the offered hand trying to stay pleasant.

"Princess Leia informed me on you and your situation. I'm sorry about your father. I met him once during the Clone Wars. He was a great tactician, a brilliant military leader. You look a lot like him, you know."

"I know." Considering he was the exact genetic copy it wasn't so surprising.

"You'll be a great asset to the Alliance. Just the presence of a Jedi here has boosted the moral of the troops."

Nice, did that mean he would become the poster boy of the Alliance like he had been for the Republic?

It knocked again. Was his room some kind of conference room? He was getting cranky by now.

Luke peeked in the room. "Obi-Wan you're finally awake. That's great. Can I talk to you, alone?" Luke was a bit hesitant of asking that considering who was in the room. "If that is alright with you general?"

The general nodded with understanding and left. Luke dragged the stool Leia had used earlier over and sat down next to Obi-Wan's bed.

"You know about the Force, right?" Luke asked nervously.

"Yes." He replied after he took a deep breath and released his frustrations into the Force.

"It's about Ben. He just disappeared. Just like that he was gone." Luke's shoulders dropped. His pain and distress seeped into the Force.

"I know." That was something Obi-Wan wondered about as well. He laid a hand on Luke's shoulder hoping that it conveyed his sympathy and understanding. He wasn't that good at consoling grieving young man.

Luke looked up. "Is this normal for Jedi?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No it was the first time I witnessed something like this. I'm sorry I can't answer your question." Luke looked crestfallen.

"There is something else. When I did my attack run on the Death Star I think I heard a voice. It sounded like Ben." Saying it out loud sounded even crazier than in his head.

Obi-Wan laid a hand on his newly shaven chin. "What did it tell you?"

"It told me to use the Force and to trust in it, and suddenly I knew when to fire the torpedoes." Luke answered.

"That was the Force speaking to you. You sometimes hear it speaking with the voice of a mentor or a teacher. That you heard it speaking to you proves that you are strong in the Force. You can always trust in the Force. It will lead you true."

Luke was relieved and yet he kneaded his fingers in nervous embarrassment. "It also said that you would train me…"

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. That was the issue, wasn't it? Should he train the boy? Luke was old, far too old to begin training. Force, Anakin had been too old to begin training and he had been only nine years old. Luke was nineteen. Mace Windu would have a heart attack if he knew Obi-Wan was even considering it. He looked at Luke. The boy looked back at him with expectance in his eyes. He felt the Force gave him a small nudge. The voice had been right; if Kenobi had chosen Luke as a Padawan then so had Obi-Wan.

"Luke, do you really want to complete your training in the Force? It will require sacrifice and lifelong dedication from you. It is not a life you should choose lightly because once you started walking down that road you have to walk it to the very end. Being a Jedi will dictate your life, you can't say in the middle of training that you don't want it anymore. It won't be easy but I'd be willing to teach you."

Hope lit up in Luke's blue eyes. "I promise I won't disappoint you. I'm willing to learn."

"Then Luke Skywalker I'll take you as my Padawan learner."

* * *

Halfway across the galaxy Darth Vader stood near the window in his office aboard his Star Destroyer. The Sith Lord stared out into the endless darkness of space deep in thought. Only the menacing sound of his breathing interrupted the silence.

He had reported the destruction of the Death Star to his master and as anticipated Lord Sidious had not been pleased. But since Tarkin had held sole responsibility for that technological bogy Vader wouldn't face any punishment. Tarkin was lucky that the explosion had blown him to pieces. If the Emperor had gotten hold of him his death would have been a gruesome, drawn out affair.

As Vader had prophesized the day went down in history. Just not in the way the Emperor would have preferred. Vader on the other hand was secretly pleased. He had personally killed Kenobi, that money pit called Death Star had exploded and became scrap metal and Vader now got the chance to end the rebels with his own hands.

He was torn from his contemplation when a knock sounded from the door.

"Come in"

A seasoned military officer entered.

"You sent for me, Lord Vader." Wulff Yularen held himself like a man who knew his place in the galaxy and who lived long enough to no longer fear death. This enabled him to face Vader without as much as a tremor of nervousness.

"Yes. You were stationed on the Death Star." Vader flipped through a file.

"Yes I was." Yularen answered, hands clasped behind his back. The military pose hadn't changed since the Clone Wars.

"Yet here you are in one piece while it has been destroyed." Vader closed the file with deliberate slowness. Any other officer would sweat bullets by now. It was a test to see if Yularen still was who he had been. "Care to explain why."

Nothing showed on Yularen's face but he could feel a slight embarrassment in the Force. That intrigued Vader. Yularen was high enough in the command chain that he didn't need leave to leave. But as the commanding officer of the Imperial Security Bureau of the Death Star he must have expected that someone would ask questions.

"It was a feeling Lord Vader. Earlier that day I met a young naval officer who escorted the Princess to her execution. He looked familiar. I checked the documents, they were alright. Later I heard that they were a rescue party. It was supposed to be impossible to rescue someone from the Death Star. Yet they pulled it off. Then I heard about the analysis of the rebel attack on the trench. It was supposed to be impossible to destroy that space station. Then I remembered why the young officer looked so familiar. He did remind me of Obi-Wan Kenobi. As you know I served with Kenobi and Skywalker during the Clone Wars and they were known to pull off the impossible on a regular basis. So on merely a hunch I decided I had matters to attend to, somewhere else."

That was interesting. It seemed that it was the will of the Force that Yularen survived.

"Could Kenobi have taught a student?" Yularen asked after a short silence.

Vader turned his back on the colonel staring at the stars. That was the question, wasn't it? Could his old master have taken on another apprentice? It would certainly explain a few things. The student could have pulled Kenobi's lightsabre to him using the Force. The backlash of a tearing training bond could have sent the apprentice to his knees. And Vader had felt that the pilot used the Force to target the exhaust vent.

A pity he hadn't paid attention on the Death Star which one of them was the possible student. Vader had use for a trained Force sensitive; he could train him as his own Sith apprentice and challenge the Emperor for the title of Sith master. But that would require absolute secrecy.

Vader knew Yularen already suspected something with the Sith Lord and openly speaking about his old master was a sure way to die quickly. Killing him would be easy yet Vader was reluctant to do so.

Over the years Vader had kept an eye on Yularen. They had sometimes been at odds during the Clone Wars but they had worked well together. Yularen was a competent officer with principles and those were so hard to come by these days.

Vader had noticed that the colonel had made sure that he always held a position near the Emperor but never in his inner circle. He was influential but never in the spotlight. He was a quiet observer, he knew more than he let on and he never let anyone look over his shoulder. Vader's spies had also reported that Yularen was concerned and dissatisfied with the corruption in the higher ranks of the Empire and some of the decisions the Emperor had made in the last few years through the man was intelligent enough to keep it quiet. Yularen was a man one would want on their side.

"Colonel Yularen how long would it take for you to establish an imperial agent in the ranks of the rebellion?"

Yularen wasn't surprised. "It depends on their recruiting method, less than three months."

"Then do so. You won't tell anybody about this. From now on you'll report only to me." The 'if you value your life and that of every person you care about' went without saying.

"Yes, Lord Vader."

"You are dismissed."

With a slight bow the colonel left Vader's office.

As much as Vader hated to admit Kenobi was fairly competent as a teacher. After all he had taught Vader in his younger years. If he had taken another student the boy had the potential to either be a nuisance or a powerful ally.

Either way Vader had to act before the Emperor got wind of it.

AN: Yeay I'm done with ANH. Everything fell into place. Now we'll step off the beaten path and move into deep AU territory. I know where I want this story to go but unfortunately I don't know the way. For one I have no idea what happens between episode 4 and 5 or in the EU in general. I have a basic storyline for what happens next but if there are characters or events you want to see I am open for suggestions.  
Beta'd by potterfanforever. Give credit were credit is due.  
So I hope you had fun reading and look forward to the next update though it may take some time.  
Have a nice day.


	5. Chapter 5

Obi-Wan and Luke had claimed a dojo within the old Sith temple for themselves. It was a bit out of the way and provided enough space needed for lightsaber training. Obi-Wan found it ironic that the rebellion which had the goal to destroy the Sith Empire was hiding on Yavin and that he taught Luke who was likely the last Jedi Padawan in what had been a bastion of the Sith order for millennia.

Obi-Wan watched his student as he performed the first Soresu kata. Luke was a fast learner and had the blocking and redirecting of blaster bolts down after a few days. Now they were working on the traditional lightsaber forms and the basics of meditation and Force use. They had to prioritize practical Force use over philosophy so Luke would get the tools for survival. In a way Obi-Wan was giving him a crash course on being a Jedi.

Luke had so much raw talent in combat that he rivaled his father easily. Obi-Wan had a dry smile on his face. Both his students had the potential to far outclass their teacher. Anakin had done so and even though he knew Luke only for a few weeks he could already see that the boy was well on his way there. They were both impatient, reckless and impulsive. But there was one great difference. Luke was humble where Anakin had been arrogant. It was nice for a change to teach a student who actually listened.

Through the Force he felt one of the pilots approaching. Obi-Wan wanted to see if Luke could keep his concentration on the kata which came up to a rather difficult sequence. With his hand on his chin he waited. It still felt odd to touch bare skin. Shaving every morning was something he hadn't done since he had been a Padawan.

The pilot barged into the room and promptly Luke jerked and fell on his face. Luke gave Wedge Antilles an indignant look who broke out in laughter. He and Luke were the only survivors of Red Squadron and they were forming a tight friendship. Obi-Wan grinned as well (he could remember all too well what his own Master Qui-Gon had done to break Obi-Wan's concentration) as he helped Luke back to his feet. "With practice comes mastery."

They turned to the intruder. "Is there a reason why you interrupted the practice?" Luke asked still a bit irritated.

"I wanted to see you fall on your face." Wedge grinned and Luke threw him another glare. He then looked from Luke to Obi-Wan becoming more serious. "The High Command wants to see you both. Something urgent came up."

He accompanied them on the way to the command center. Luke walked right next to Obi-Wan not the traditional half a step behind his teacher as it proper. But since nothing about Luke or his training was proper Obi-Wan had decided to throw that tradition out of the window. He hadn't decided yet how much of the traditional training should be forsaken but given the circumstances traditional Jedi training would probably get them killed. It would give them away if Luke had a Padawan braid.

A pity; Obi-Wan would have loved to pull at one again.

"Do you know what they want?" Obi-Wan asked when the command center came into view.

Wedge shrugged. "No idea." After a pause the pilot continued. "But I have to warn you. They are still at it." Obi-Wan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and he caught Luke's groan.

"Good luck." Wedge gave them a small smile and practically fled down the corridor.

They entered the room where the leaders of the Alliance stood around a star map. It seemed that they were still busy finding a planet for their new headquarters. They had been arguing on the issue for the last four weeks.

It was a pity that they needed to move. Yavin had been near ideal. Sure it had a tropical climate and the muggy weather that came with it but it had the necessary infrastructure, the resources and it was reasonably remote. But blowing up the Deathstar was like waving a flag, look, dear Empire, here we are, come and kill us all. So they had to move.

With an attack from the Empire looming over the horizon the tension ran high. The higher up in the command chain you were the more nervous you became. The command had run the base's crew ragged to make sure that they could evacuate at a moments notice.

"So much for Ambra… We don't need Imperials in our neighborhood." Leia said calmly though in reality she wanted to kick something. She was the born politician. None of her frustration showed on her face but Obi-Wan felt it in the Force and from what Luke sent through their still fragile training bond his student felt it as well. She did remind him of Padme.

"As I said Hoth is our only viable choice." General Willard brought an end to a discussion that had worn them out. Obi-Wan blinked. Just the name of the planet made him shiver. If they were really discussing the damned snowball as a possibility then they were desperate indeed.

"I don't think Hoth would be a good option." Obi-Wan interrupted the discussion as he stepped next to Leia. Luke took position on her other side. Leia was grateful since she had been desperate to find a different option for the last few days. The idea of basing operations on Hoth didn't sit well with her gut instinct.

"And why is that, Jedi Kenobi?" One didn't need to be Force sensitive to feel the stark disapproval General Dodonna radiated.

Obi-Wan folded his arms before he presented his arguments.

"The temperature on Hoth will most likely lead the machines and electricity to fail not to mention that it was life threatening for humans. The asteroid belt will not only prevent the enemy from approaching but it would also prevent the Alliance from sensing any incoming ships. And when the Empire does come knocking we will have a hard time defending our position not to mention the aforementioned asteroids will make evacuation difficult."

"Do you have a better idea, Master Jedi?" Dodonna's voice was polite but Obi-Wan could hear the slight sarcastic edge in the tone.

"Unfortunately no." He did have a few ideas, for example Felucia or Teth, but he didn't know how these planets had changed since the Clone Wars. They could be uninhabitable or a well-known imperial stronghold.

"It's decided then."

"From what I understand not all scouts are back yet. Perhaps a group will come back with a better option. Give them a few more days." Obi-Wan felt something elusive and negative in the Force that surrounded the ice planet.

"Days we may not have. Time is of essence!" Dodonna said it as if he talked to a new recruit who was still wet behind his ears.

He understood why the general felt like this. Never the less Dodonna's attitude grated on Obi-Wan's nerves. He was used to be the one in control, the one to make the decisions. During the Clone Wars he had been a general and now the rebellion wasn't even sure what to do with him. They respected him but only to honor the memory of Kenobi. He would have to prove himself worthy of their trust. General Dodonna especially doubted his competence in combat and outside of it. According to the data Arfour had provided the man had been among the officers of the Republic Navy who had disapproved of the Jedi's involvement during the Clone Wars.

Obi-Wan sighed. It was obvious that the council had made up their minds. Logically speaking that frozen wasteland was their best option. That he had a bad feeling in the Force wouldn't convince anybody. "Then let's hope this hasty decision doesn't come back to bite us all. I'd hate to have to tell you, I told you so."

He then looked into the round. "So why did you call us here?"

"Ah yes." Willard pressed serval buttons and a hologram of a man in his late thirties appeared. "This is Andon Reyes. He is an engineer for the Fondor Shipyards. For the last few months he supplied us with intelligence on the armament of the Imperial Navy and the routes these new ships take to reach their destination. The information was vital for a great number of ambushes we laid.

"Reyes now claims he has data too sensitive to send it through the usual channels and he wishes to meet with a member of the Alliance.

"Since you kept a low profile and lived undetected by the Empire we feel that you are the right man for this mission."

It sounded simple enough and Obi-Wan would be glad to get Luke off planet for a few days. "Luke will accompany me to the meeting." He stated.

Luke grinned and could barely contain the urge to do a happy dance. It was one of the first things Obi-Wan had explained. A Padawan's place was by his master's side. That was a tradition they would definitely keep.

Dodonna opened his mouth to object but Leia cut him off. "It's decided then. I'll see them off."

She took both of them by their arms and led them out of the command center. "Sorry I needed to get out of there, at least for a few minutes." The discussions and arguments of the last few days had drawn on her strength. "I've been arguing against Hoth for days and now we are going there anyway. I just have a bad feeling about the decision."

"I'm sorry that I backed down from the discussion so quickly then." Obi-Wan declined his head in apology.

Leia shook her head. "No. It's alright. It's good to know that someone shares my opinion."

"I agree with you." Luke interjected. Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. Luke would agree with Leia on everything.

"Anyway, where are you taking us?" Luke asked as they took another turn. "We don't even know on which planet we are meeting the spy, never mind how we are supposed to get there."

"Han's going to fly you." She answered as she dragged them with her.

"Does he know he's supposed to fly us where ever we are headed?"

"He'll know when I tell him."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. Han Solo had done something that annoyed the princess and she would retaliate, using her position in the Rebellion. It happened a few times over the last few weeks and he could see a pattern emerging.

"What did he do now?" Luke was indignant on Han's behalf.

Leia looked daggers at the Padawan.

"Where will we meet this Andon Reyes?" Obi-Wan interrupted before this descended into another rant on Han's inappropriate behavior.

Leia turned to the older man (she knew exactly what the Jedi master was trying to pull) and handed a datadisk to Obi-Wan. "This contains the mission specifics. You're meeting Reyes on Gandeal. Everything else is on the disk." The Jedi took it and made a mental note to compare it to the info in Arfour. He still wasn't entirely up to date on recent history.

In the hangar Han and Chewbacca were tinkering with the Falcon. Well they only saw the Wookie and heard Han from somewhere deep in the bowels of his ship cursing and sometimes calling for a tool. Chewwie handed them over with slight amusement. He was perfectly satisfied watching Han bumbling around a bit clueless.

"Hey Han!" Luke called. There was a loud clang and another colorful string of curses. Chewwie did the Wookies equivalent to sniggering.

Han emerged from the insides of the Falcon rubbing his head. "Luke, Obi-Wan what are you doing here? Don't you have some voodoo training to do?"

"Normally yes. But something important came up." Obi-Wan answered. "We find that we are in need of a transport."

"Captain Solo, since your ship is the most inconspicuous ship in the fleet the rebel command feels you are best suited for this mission." Leia's underlying annoyance with Han was back.

"Oh now you have need for my smuggling talents, Your Worship." Han replied with his typical arrogant cockiness.

"As a matter of fact the Alliance does." Leia shot back haughtily.

"Guys could we return to the matter at hand?" Luke pleaded.

"Right… As soon as I've finished up here and did the preflight checks we'll leave." Han picked up a hydrospin and moved back to the latch he'd been working on.

Leia rolled her eyes. "It seems that your departure may be delayed for an hour or seven." She murmured but Obi-Wan heard her anyway. "Obi-Wan, Luke you'll have to make sure that we get Reyes' information. This mission is important. But be careful." She gave first Obi-Wan a quick hug then Luke. But the boy would have loved if it had been a bit longer. Obi-Wan did a mental groan. He had all but forgotten about Luke's crush. He had thought of it as Kenobi's problem but now that Luke was his student it had become Obi-Wan's. This discussion would be so much fun.

"May the Force be with you" Leia nodded at them and left.

Luke and Obi-Wan returned to their quarters to pack and inform their droids of the trip. Obi-Wan had taken a page out of Anakin's book and done some modifications on Arfour. She now had a compartment that held Kenobi's lightsaber. It was always good to have a backup and technically it was exactly the same as Obi-Wan's so it should work as well as his own.

But Luke used his father's and that worried Obi-Wan. A lightsaber was as unique as the Jedi who created it. Using someone else's lightsaber was like running around with ill-fitting shoes. It was a whole lot easier to trip.

Luke would have to build his own lightsaber, the sooner the better.

When they returned to the Falcon Han was hanging headfirst in the machinery.

"How's it going Han? Need any help?" Luke asked already looking for the toolbox. He was good when it came to machines.

"Could be better. Something is wrong and I can't figure out what." Han answered from inside the engine.

Obi-Wan folded his arms. "Well whatever is wrong you better find it soon. I ran into general Dodonna on the way and he was kind enough to remind me that time is of essence." Somehow Obi-Wan got the feeling Dodonna's mistrust was getting personal.

Han climbed out and scratched his head. "She should be running smoothly and purring like a kitten. I don't know why she is stubborn."

Chewwie turned a switch and the engines roared to live. He turned to a dumbfounded Han with a grin on his face. "Oh shut up fuzzball."

AN: And so begins a new story arc. I hope you enjoyed it.  
Beta'd by potterfanforever.  
Have a nice day.


	6. Chapter 6

The trip to Gandeal would be a night flight. They would start in the early afternoon would fly through the night cycle and would meet Reyes late in the morning.

For the last few hours Obi-Wan and Luke sat on the floor in a secluded area and the master tried to teach his student about the finer aspects of meditation. It was not going well.

Luke could not sit still for more than a few seconds. It was an experience he was all too familiar with boy's father when Obi-Wan first began to train Anakin. At the moment the boy acted like he had ants in his pants. As brilliant as he was in the practical application of the Force the same could not be said when it came to the theory and the passive aspects of a Jedi's life. For instance, his ability to shield his presence from other Force wielders was bad.

"Visualize the Force as a vast ocean with a calm surface. Every living being sends out waves. The stronger you are in the Force the higher and more powerful these waves become. Since we are Force sensitive we can feel these waves.

"You are so strong in the Force that the waves you send out tend to overlap the ones others send out. You can't hear a whisper when you yourself are shouting. But as a Jedi you also have to be aware of your surroundings. In order to hear these smaller waves you need to be calm. You need to quiet your mind so you can achieve that calm state in order to hear the more subtle messages the Force sends out." It was Obi-Wan's third time he tried to explain the basics of a Force presence to Luke but the boy still didn't understand what he was driving at. Or perhaps Luke just didn't want to.

"But I could hear it clearly telling me when to shoot those torpedoes." Luke objected.

"You can still hear the Force itself because its will is stronger than any living being can even begin to imagine. It can drown out even the loudest voice. During your attack run on the Death Star it was probably screaming at you."

Finally, finally understanding dawned on Luke's face.

"Now shielding. The technique I want to teach you is two folded. First you need to calm your mind.

"Since you are a living being you create waves by default. In your case they are strong to begin with. But you feelings factor in as well. Imagine a pond and you throw in a pebble and now you throw in a boulder. It is easier to contain the waves of the pebble then the ones from the boulder. The stronger your emotions are, the higher are your waves and the more difficult it is to shield your presence.

"The second step is shielding your presence. It is different from person to person. Some imagine brick walls, others think of a dense mist, I knew someone who imagined a wall made of rubber." Over the next hour there was next to no improvement and both teacher and student grew frustrated.

Forget bad, Luke's shields were abysmal. It was like hearing loud music someone in the next room listened to with only a sheet of paper between them. Luke's shielding had next to no effect.

"It's useless. Why do I have to learn this?" The student whined after another failed attempt.

Luke felt that all this shielding stuff was one big waste of time when he could be studying his lightsaber techniques. The message he send through the Force was quite clear. Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. Did the boy not listen to anything he had said five minutes prior?

"Because, Luke, you shine so brightly in the Force you are a beacon for any darksider in the radius of a few light-years and I'm getting a headache from all the feelings you've been broadcasting..."

Luke blushed with embarrassment. And there it was again. The issue of Luke's crush on Leia hanging in the air between them. Obi-Wan had to address it before it got out of hand like it had done with Anakin. How should he approach the topic? Lecturing Luke about the Jedi Code probably wouldn't work. The boy could barely recite it. So lecturing him on the interpretations wouldn't work. It hadn't worked when he tried to talk Anakin's crush on Padme out of his Padawan's head. Luke's existence was proof enough.

"Yes Luke I know of your crush on Leia."

Now the young Padawan turned bright red. "You won't tell her, will you?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "I won't tell Leia." Luke breathed in relief. "But nevertheless we need to talk about it."

Luke looked up in alarm.

He couldn't just dump Master Yoda's 'fear leads to anger'-speech on Luke. It would go straight over his head. No Obi-Wan decided he really should get the basics down first before it got to that. He would have to use another angle.

"Your crush clouds your judgement."

Luke opened his mouth to protest but Obi-Wan silenced him with a look. "Don't deny it. When Leia is around you have the tendency to forget to think for yourself. You agree with her on everything and get this look of puppy love in your eyes. It's a Jedi's duty to always mediate between two fractions but when Leia is involved you always take her side. Then there are also your feelings of jealousy towards Han. Those could take you down to a dark place with no return." Dejected Luke stared at his teacher.

"You remember how I told you that being a Jedi would require sacrifice and dedication from you." Luke nodded. "Between your duties for the rebellion as squadron leader and your training in the ways of the Force you will hardly have the time to pursue a relationship. Medit- Think on it. Where do your priorities lie? And become clear of your feelings for her."

Obi-Wan glanced at the clock. "It is late. You should go to bed tomorrow might be a hard day." Both stood up, Luke still somewhat subdued.

* * *

Despite the fact that he had gone to bed early Luke hadn't slept much that night. He'd been thinking on what Obi-Wan had told him and on Leia. Finally in the early hours of the morning he'd come to a conclusion.

He loved Leia.

But not romantically. The love he felt for her was the love for a friend or perhaps a sister.

Now that he knew where he stood with Leia he was a lot calmer and he could throw his entire focus on training. He wanted to be a Jedi more than anything and he was willing to devote his entire life to learning how to be one. Besides Obi-Wan had been right, crushing on Leia had interfered with his ability to think rationally.

When Luke met up with the others they already prepared for their approach on Gandeal. Han was running the ship through the pre-landing routine together with Chewwie and Obi-Wan had once again exchanged his beloved Jedi tunics for civilian clothing and fastened a blaster holster on his right leg. When he saw Luke coming in he smiled and threw one to his student as well. "Wear that in sight." Luke grinned at his master it was as if some kind of barrier between them had broken away.

Seeing this Han raised an eyebrow. "What no magic swords today?"

Obi-Wan gave him a half-smile. "But of course!" He said gesturing to the handle he had clipped horizontally to his belt. "But during this time and age it wont count as a believable weapon and from what I remember you should carry a visible weapon on Gandeal to avoid unfriendly attention."

"Seems like you aren't as removed from the real world as your old man was." The smuggler in Han nodded in approval. "Do you know how to use it?"

"I have reasonable good aim." Commander Cody had insisted that his aim should at least be decent and in Cody's opinion that meant Obi-Wan could nail a target dead centre 99 times out of 100.

"Good." Han looked at the instruments. "We're coming up on Gandeal-City."

They landed on one of the smaller landing platforms.

"See you later." Luke and Obi-Wan waved goodbye. "Don't let the engines cool down to much."

"And Chewbacca", the Wookie leaned closer to better hear Obi-Wan's half whispered request, "keep Han from dismantling the Falcon. We may need to make a quick getaway." Chewwie nodded snickering and Han threw both of them a glare.

Teacher and student stepped down the ramp and Obi-Wan's first impression of the planet was grey. Everything was grey, the streets, the buildings, the sky, even the skin of the people seemed grey and everything was dominated by the symbol of the Empire. He went over the data on the planet again in his mind as they walked down the main street towards the agreed meeting place.

Gandeal didn't have a formal government, credits were what ruled the planet. The entire planet belonged to the Fondor Shipyards to excavate rare minerals for the ships electronics. The settlement had been founded by the Empire only about fifteen years ago and already more than one million people, mainly humans, lived there and nearly all of them worked for the Shipyards and the mines one way or the other. One of these people was Andon Reyes. He was an engineer responsible for the logistics and the flow of materials for the production and the shipping of the finished ships to their destination.

Reyes had seen the exploitation of sentient resources as the Empire called it, Reyes called it slavery, and when he had gotten drunk on a day off he had shouted his not so positive opinion about it through the bar he had been in. Luckily the music had been too loud for anybody to hear apart from a young woman who turned out to be working for the rebels. They had met again the next morning when he had sobered up and somehow she shanghaied him into working for the Rebellion. Not that he was cross with her. Finally he had the feeling that he did something for the good of the galaxy.

That was the info Obi-Wan had on the man they were about to meet in a little coffee shop in a side road. The street was busy as was the shop. No one would pay attention to them.

Shortly before they approached the frontdoor Luke stopped short. "I feel something in the Force, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan smiled proudly. His padawan was learning. "I sense it too. There is something sinister about this meeting."

"What do we do now?" Luke was still new to this so he didn't know that Obi-Wan's usual approach to traps was springing them.

"We'll go anyway. But keep your eyes open."

Reyes sat in a both in the back of the shop near the emergency exit as Obi-Wan noticed. The man was nervous, his fingers tapping against the ceramic of his coffee mug. When Luke and Obi-Wan approached making the agreed on hand movement he looked up and invited them with a hand gesture to take a seat. "I'm Andon Reyes. Thank you for coming."

Obi-Wan shook the man's hand. "Ben-Jinn Eolon and this is Geor Kessel." He used the aliases he and Luke had agreed on in case this meeting was a trap. Kenobi and Skywalker were still memorable names especially combined. "You asked for a personal meeting so here we are. What's so sensitive that can't be sent trough the usual channels?"

The engineer pulled out a data disk and placed it on the table. "I stumbled upon inconsistencies when I sorted through the order books. At first it wasn't much just a few crates here and there. But when I added it up and as it turned out an enormous amount of materials disappear every month. I suspected someone embezzled them to sell them on the black market. But then I traced one of the shipments and found a secret project founded by the Empire. I-" Reyes broke of when a man in imperial uniform entered the loud shop, followed by two stormtroopers and strode directly into their direction. Eyes wide with fear Reyes removed the disk from the table while Obi-Wan and Luke put their hands on their blasters.

"Andon Reyes, you are under arrest for sedition, the circulation of confidential information and high treason against the Empire."

Reyes in a fit of panic threw over the table, pulled out a blaster and shot the imperial officer in the chest. For a man who was shaking with fear Reyes had remarkably good aim. Obi-Wan took out the two stormtroopers but by then more of the white armoured soldiers poured in firing at will. He saw how unarmed civilians were caught in the crossfire.

The three of them cowered behind the table and answered the incoming fire to the best of their ability.

"I'm calling Han. We need a pick-up." Luke shouted over the cacophony of the blaster shots.

"Tell him to make it quick." Obi-Wan answered.

"Han's on his way." Luke relayed the message. "We need to get out of the building."

For some reason the troopers suddenly stopped shooting at them causing everything to go quiet. Carefully Obi-Wan peered over the edge of the table. Slowly they made room for a Mirialan woman in her early forties wearing the grey armour of an inquisitor. She seemed vaguely familiar to Obi-Wan but he couldn't quite place her.

"And here I thought this routine mission about unearthing a spy would be boring. But imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and I felt the presence of a Jedi in training." She couldn't distinguish Luke or Obi-Wan because Luke's presence was so overwhelming she couldn't pinpoint its exact source. "So of course I had to come and see for myself."

_"Do you now understand why you need to learn shielding?"_ Obi-Wan thought.

_"I'm sorry, Master."_ Luke answered reasonably repentant. He also promised himself to take the shielding lessons more seriously.

Obi-Wan didn't have the time to marvel at the fact that their training bond was strong enough for mental speech since the woman now looked directly at him and right then he recognized the tattoos decorating the bridge of the woman's nose. He could not believe who she was.

"Bariss Offee" He gasped.

"It looks like I found myself a survivor of the Purge." She smiled triumphantly. She must have mistaken Obi-Wan's shock for terror or fear. "You must have been barely padawan when the corrupted order met the end it deserved. What did your master tell about me? Did he use me and my decision to become a Darksider as a negative example? Did I become the bogey the crèche masters scared the younglings with?" A mad glint crept into Bariss eyes.

"Tell me young one. Do you know how to use a lightsaber?" She mocked.

Obi-Wan blinked. Did Bariss Offee just really called him 'young one'? Last time he checked she was a padawan and he was a council master. Who did she think- Oh right he was twenty years in the future.

Whispering he turned to Luke and Reyes. "Get out of here." He gestured to the emergency exit. "And get to the roof, I'll have your back." Both nodded.

Obi-Wan put the blaster back in its holster and unclipped his lightsaber.

He ignited his blue blade while Bariss ignited her two red swords. "Care to find out?" Somehow he got the feeling that this duel would be a lot like his fights with Ventress. From his experience fighting darksiders (mainly Ventress) he knew that taunting was a double bladed sword but they were far outnumbered and he speculated on the arrogance darksiders seemed to have monopoly on. She would probably want to fight him one on one.

Unfortunately his gamble didn't pay off. Offee ordered her troops to commence fire. He knew he could take Bariss. He could sense in the Force she was not close to being a master even after twenty one years of being an inquisitor. Even adding the troopers to the equation he wouldn't have a hard time beating her. But his priority was getting Luke and Reyes out alive and in one piece. Luckily his skill with Soresu was enough to cover Luke's and Reyes' exit before he retreated himself. The back alley where the emergency exit led was empty of life. The troopers hadn't even surrounded the building either they were overconfident or overly stupid. All the better for the Jedi. By the time he was outside the building his companions already climbed the ladder to the roof where Han would pick them up. The Falcon already hovered half a meter above the roof top.

A shot grazed Reyes left shoulder causing him to cried out in pain.

As quick as he could Obi-Wan force jumped on the roof edge. His danger sense going off he quickly turned and Force-shoved Bariss, who followed him, just before her feet touched the concrete. Bariss was caught off guard but was able to correct her flight and back flip in the air and landed on the ground growling in frustration. "Stop staring and shoot him!" She shouted at her troopers and they opened fire which Obi-Wan deflected with ease. Their aim couldn't hold a candle against the accuracy of the clones, Force, their aim was worse then the droids'. The Jedi looked over his shoulder and seeing that Luke had gotten Reyes aboard he jumped on the ramp as well.

Last thing before the hatch closed he heard Bariss shouting something at him but he didn't quite get what it was. Obi-Wan didn't know what she was so frustrated about. They hadn't even crossed blades with each other. But he felt from now on she would be after him.

When he entered the cockpit he clipped his lightsaber back to his belt.

"That was one impressive lightshow." Han grinned and activated the hyperdrive towards Yavin.

Later when Luke was preoccupied checking Reyes' wound Obi-Wan hid away in the storage room he had had his conversation with Kenobi barely more than a month ago; where he had been told about the fall of the Jedi order. Yet what did he know really? He knew that Palpatine was the puppeteer behind it and that Vader his executioner. But there had to be more to it. What happened to make such a gentle hearted healer like Bariss Offee into a follower of the dark side? What the hell happened twenty years ago? What had Kenobi kept quiet about?

* * *

When they arrived back to base Reyes' graze shot was checked over and bandaged. He was then scanned for any hidden communication devices, bugs or trackers on his person. When he was declared clean Luke and Obi-Wan escorted him to meet with the rebel command. They were sitting in a conference room discussing the new information on the shipments and production rates the Fondor Shipyards had planned for the next months.

When the Jedi entered the leaders looked up dissatisfaction written on their faces. For that banal information they had risked their resident Jedi?

Obi-Wan found it nice that for once Dodonna's disapproval was not directed at him. "Mr Reyes, Lieutenant Skywalker, Knight Kenobi please have a seat." And yet the general had just managed to slight him again by naming him last. "Is this all the information you wanted to deliver? Because if it is you could have sent it through the usual channels."

Reyes looked a bit embarrassed. "Have you found the folder called KDY/FS-Exe01?" It was mainly technical data, supply lists and material orders. "This is a joint venture between the Kuat Drive Yards and the Fondor Shipyards. Together they are building the new flagship for Lord Vader, the Executor. In that folder there is a hologram of that 19 km long ship and the information you need if you want to sabotage it." The command looked somewhat mollified.

The engineer took a deep breath. "But that wasn't why I asked for a personal meeting." He removed a necklace with an amulet from his layers of clothing and removed a data disk from the pendant. With a tremor in his arm Reyes handed it over and General Willard inserted it into the computer connection.

"The folder you are looking for has the designation DestII." Reyes said with horror in his voice.

The hologram loaded and the every member of the council raised their eyebrows. Obi-Wan stared at the flickering picture of the Death Star.

"We already know about this battle station." Dodonna folded his arms in a sceptical gesture. "We blew it up."

Reyes shook his head. "This is a second one."

AN:

Felicity D: I hope this chapter answers your question. It is going to divert further from the original timeline in the chapters that are going to follow.

potterfanforever beta'd the chapter.

I hope you all enjoy the story so far.

Have a nice day.


	7. Chapter 7

Shocked silence filled the air.

Until Leia rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. She ran down the corridor and in an empty room where she punched the wall in her fury. She didn't even notice that her knuckles began to bleed.

A second Death Star?

How could they build another monstrosity like that? After the destruction of Alderaan, the extinction of her people, the murder of her family? How dare they? How dare they?

Leia clenched her fists. Her whole body shook with fury. Her anger was rolling of her in waves. It was like a pulse through the Force and the furniture and the electronics trembled and beeped in synchrony with it, getting stronger with each laboured breath she took.

The rebel command could feel the physical aspect of the disturbance all the way in the conference room. The slight tremor rose to a quake that shook the entire base. This wasn't good. Obi-Wan had felt something like it before, had seen it take down an entire building; when Anakin had fits of rage during his teenaged years. He had to do something, quickly.

Running after her he used to Force to guide him, not that it was difficult to locate the epicenter of the Force quake.

When Obi-Wan found her he took Leia by her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye. He calmed his own mind and reached for hers. To his surprise he found her shields collapsed and gently send soothing waves in her direction.

"Leia, listen to the sound of my voice. Breathe slowly in and now out. Slowly in and out. That's it. Imagine your feelings as a vast ocean and a storm is raging over them. Calm that storm, let the rain subside, let the wind blow less harsh, there is even a tiny ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. The ocean waves meet the shore with a slower rhythm in sync with your breathing. In and out." His voice was soft and gentle and created the picture of a beautiful beach with white sand and a slight breeze playing with her hair. She concentrated on his voice and her breathing began to match the rhythm of the waves in her imagination. Obi-Wan felt how she instinctively reached for the Force and let it take her turmoil and storming emotions away.

With each breath Leia took the tension left her body and soon she went limp and she laid in Obi-Wan's arm's, crying. He wasn't sure how to deal with the grieving young woman so he simply held her. Gently he rubbed her back in cycles and send calming waves through the Force. He hadn't had to deal with such anger driven Force waves since he and Anakin went on a mission involving slaves. Concerned he looked at the crying young woman who clung to his tunic.

Now he knew for sure that Leia was Force sensitive. In fact he could fill that she had the potential at least as strong as Luke. He would have to teach her control at the very least. That might prove difficult considering that he already had a Padawan. There was a reason that a master had only one student at the time. Dividing his attention between two apprentices would be hard sometimes bordering dangerous. Obi-Wan might be unable to see signs of a possible fall to the Dark side if he had to divide his focus between these two exceptional young people. Yet he had no choice but to teach Leia. She had come far too close to the Dark without even noticing. She should at least be aware of the danger it posed for her and the people around her.

Luke hadn't displayed an emotional storm like that, yet. But Obi-Wan would have to talk to him about the Force on the more philosophical level, not only the practical application they had to focus on until now.

Carefully Leia pushed Obi-Wan back and wiped the tears off her face. "Thank you." Somehow she knew that he had pulled her back from an abyss she hadn't been aware off.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Are you feeling better?"

Leia shook her head. "No."

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. He had felt the same when he found out about the fate of the Jedi Order. He had meditated for hours before he had reached a state resembling calm again. The pain and anger were still there but it no longer controlled his actions. Time would never completely heal the wounds but they could learn to live with the pain. Perhaps even forget about it sometimes as it became a permanent part of their lives, of themselves. It would never leave either of them but they were able of rational decisions again.

There was a moment of awkward silence and Leia opened her mouth to say something when suddenly the alarms blared and both jumped, startled.

"Enemy ships just came out of hyperspace. The Empire is here. All personnel prepare for immediate evacuation. Repeat: All personnel prepare for immediate evacuation."

The Jedi and the princess looked at each other and came to a wordless agreement. The discussion about what had just happened would have to wait. They stormed out of the room and ran towards the command center.

So the Empire had finally come.

Both slithered into the command centre where all hell had broken loose. Orders were barked into com units, back-up hard drives were removed from computers and data erased. Most of the important hardware had been packed up weeks ago but the base had to stay operational until they knew where to relocate to. Since they still didn't know where to go next they waited for the uninstallation until the very last second. Which was either when the command had decided on a new base or when the Empire came knocking.

Han and Chewwie leaned seemingly casual against a wall but Obi-Wan felt their nervousness through the Force. Luke who stood at the hologram table flooded the Force with anxiety and some of the personnel flooded it with outright panic. Reyes sat in a corner shaking with fear.

Leia took a deep breath before she turned to General Willard. "What's the situation, General?" Her voice was steady and it carried enough authority to be heard through the chaos. Instantly the panic quieted down. The military men of the Alliance stood at attention when she came to stand at the hologram table.

Luke wanted to ask what had happened and if Leia was alright but Obi-Wan shook his head and Luke took the hint and kept quiet. As soon as they got out of whatever mess this was Obi-Wan would sit down with Luke and Leia and discuss what had happened earlier.

General Willard gave his report. "Five Star Destroyers just came out of hyperspace. From the formation that they are taking we conclude that they want to besiege us." He pointed to the display. The imperials had positioned the Star Destroyers in a circle formation above the rebel base effectively cutting them off from any possible hyperspace routes on this side of the moon. Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes; something about the positions nudged the back of his mind.

Willard pointed to the middle of the circle. "If we spearhead an attack straight through here we can break through this blockade. They won't expect that. It's not going to be easy but it is definitively possible."

"We would need to man our small fighters to keep the Star Destroyers at bay and to ensure the escape of the transports." Leia leaned in staring intensely at the hologram.

"But we lost a lot of our pilots in the battle against the Death Star. And there are some X-Wings we have no pilots for."

"Knight Kenobi, do you think you can handle one of these?" General Willard asked pointing to the hologram of the X-Wings in the battle plan simulation. Obi-Wan nodded. The controls were almost identical to those in his old Jedi fighter. But he didn't really pay attention. His thoughts were on the Imperial Star Destroyers blockading their base.

"Good you'll be in command of Rogue Squadron."

In surprise Obi-Wan looked up. "Squadron? What squadron?"

"We decided that since you're a Jedi you should take command of a squadron. You are now leader of what's left from Red Squadron." Leia smiled at him.

Dodonna frowned. "You better live up to our expectations and the example the Jedi set during the Clone Wars." Obi-Wan wanted to groan. The last thing he needed was Dodonna's apparently limitless skepticism. What had he done to earn it?

"General Dodonna, would you please continue your explanations?" Leia brought the discussion back on track.

Obi-Wan had a weird feeling the moment he saw only five Star Destroyers in orbit around Yavin. A fleet normally consisted of three ships. It had been that way since the Clone Wars and according to Arfour's stolen data the Imperial Navy had continued this practice. It would make sense if the Empire had sent two fleets ergo six ships. But then where was the sixth ship?

He eyed the ships when he realized why their positions were familiar to him. Obi-Wan groaned when he recognized their formation. He knew that maneuver all too well. It was a double layer trap. If the plan was executed the right way the Alliance would at least loose half their ships trying to break through. Couldn't these blasted Imperials do anything themselves? Now they had even stolen Obi-Wan's own battle tactics.

Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose he spoke up interrupting Dodonna's description of the battle plan. "This is a trap."

"What are you talking about?" Leia asked from her position on the other side of the hologram.

"There is a sixth star destroyer about to come out of hyperspace and it's going to close our escape route. At the edge of the system the sixth one is waiting for the notification that we started our attack and then it will come in closing off our so called loophole. The plan has minimal risks for the invading force but the defenders will lose a large part of their fleet trying to break through. Do not give the transports the clearance to start."

"Who told you that? You're mysterious Force?" Slowly but surely Obi-Wan lost every ounce of understanding and respect he had for General Dodonna. Now really wasn't the time for that biting skepticism?

He was about to shot something back when a senior officer named Mohite exclaimed. "Now I recognize that formation. It was a strategy employed during the siege of Telos. It was employed by Master Kenobi during the Clone Wars. The Republic used it to draw out the Separatist occupying the planet. The Separatists fleet was completely destroyed with next to no casualties for the Republic."

Mohite sighed. "This trap is known for being inescapable."

Obi-Wan laid a hand on his chin. "I wouldn't say that. A trap is only effective when those who will be trapped don't know about it. We are aware of it so we can make a new plan with it in mind."

"Are we going to spring the trap?" Luke asked eager to see action.

"If we wanted to fight and win against them I'd say yes." Obi-Wan answered slipping into his teaching mode. "But our objective is to escape from this planet with minimal casualties, preferably none. So we have to find a way around it."

"Sounds like you have a plan." Han said with a smug grin.

A dry smile bloomed on Obi-Wan's face. Obi-Wan wouldn't be Obi-Wan if he hadn't thought of a way to defeat his own strategies. "I do. It will require a bit of planning, a great deal of stealth and some skills in piloting. Tell me, how good is the Imperial radar?"

* * *

A few hours later the rebel fleet was in hyperspace on route to meet with a different rebel cell under Admiral Ackbar. They had waited for the one of the heavy rainstorms on Yavin. Those happened regularly during the planetary nights when the moon stood in the shadow of the gas giant. This weather phenomenon caused severe atmospheric unrest and the electrical discharges, the lightning, messed with the imperial sensors. That meant that they hadn't been able to pick up the signals of rebel ships taking off. Since these storms often spanned over thousands of kilometers the rebels used the rain clouds as cover and took off from the other side of the moon calculating their hyperspace route even before they left the atmosphere.

When Obi-Wan had suggested the plan many had thought him crazy. Because flying during a thunderstorm required a pilot of more than moderate skill. The winds could be unpredictable. But the Alliance had some really experienced pilots who could fly in that weather. Obi-Wan had been tasked with leading his new squadron through the thunder-storm. They had escaped the system with only some minor scratches and the Empire none the wiser.

The Rebellion was safe for now. But they still had no idea where to establish their base. The Rebel Command overruled both Obi-Wan and Leia on the base location and decided that their next long-term base would be on the ice planet Hoth. But in the meantime the Alliance would return to the nomadic lifestyle they had during the early beginnings of the rebellion.

Obi-Wan had finally been integrated into the Alliance's command structure as a commander. As leader of Rogue Squadron he was no longer in the limbo he had been in as merely a Jedi. After he had pointed out the trap and had planned their successful escape from Yavin many military officers no longer watched him with suspicion and doubt. Even General Dodonna had managed a slightly respectful nod in Obi-Wan's direction when the Jedi had entered their temporary command center where they were still discussing their next moves.

It took hours before they knew which resources they needed immediately and what could take time.

And they discussed what to do about the Intel provided by Reyes. Since they didn't know the coordinates of the Death Star construction site they would prioritize on finding it. In the meantime they made plans on how to sabotage Vader's new flagship. It was early in the night cycle when they postponed further planning because everyone was exhausted from the last few days.

The command filed out of the door with vague plans for dinner and a long shower.

Obi-Wan, Luke and Leia remained behind. Neither of them had forgotten the quake on Yavin nor Leia's flight from the command center and the breakdown that had followed. They really needed to talk about it but they didn't know how to broach the subject. The silence stretched between them.

"Uhm. That earthquake back on Yavin, I felt it was connected to the Force. Master, how is this possible?" Bless Luke for his slightly naïve view of the universe, Obi-Wan thought. Luke still looked at the galaxy with the wide eyes of a child.

Obi-Wan leaned back placing his right hand under his chin. "Ah Yes. We haven't talked about the physical aspects of the Force yet. We've focused on feeling the Force. Letting it guide your movements to reflect blaster bolts for example. In a way the Force moved you. The reverse is also possible. With enough concentration one can move the Force to move other objects." The Jedi raised his arm and called a data pad to his hand before he sent it back to its original place. Luke looked at him with awe. "Sometimes this happens unintentionally. Luke you remember when I told you about the waves emotions create in the Force?"

Luke nodded and Leia sat on the edge of her chair face scrunched in concentration and interest.

"That's what happened. Leia's emotions were so strong, that the waves they created affected the physical world."

Luke looked at Leia who met his gaze. "I'm like Luke?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes you are Force sensitive and the Force is strong with you." He frowned. "What we witnessed on Yavin was dangerous. It could have brought the entire temple down on us."

"But Leia didn't know what was happening!" Luke interrupted the Jedi's lecture.

After he gave Luke the look he reserved for apprentices who interrupted his lectures (he'd perfected those with Anakin) Obi-Wan turned his attention to Leia. "I don't blame you for what happened. But you need to learn how to handle your emotions less something like that happens again."

"You want me to become a Jedi?" Leia frowned. She didn't like it when someone made decisions for her.

Obi-Wan held her irritated gaze. "It is your decision if you want to be a Jedi or not. As I told Luke being a Jedi will dictate one's life and it is not a decision to make lightly. But you need to learn to control your emotions. I'm afraid that isn't optional."

Leia nodded somewhat mollified. A moment later fierce determination shone in her eyes. Obi-Wan just knew, Leia would master shielding and control in record time. She had her mind set on something and she wouldn't stop until she reached her goal. Force, she looked like Padme had when she had decided to free her planet.

Later lying in his bed Obi-Wan wondered if he had lost his mind; teaching not only one student who was far too old to begin training but two. Force, what was he thinking?

* * *

Light-years away Lord Vader sat in his hyperbaric chamber, lost in a deep meditation within the Dark Side of the Force. He was not just angry, he was furious.

After the Death Star's destruction he spent the a few days in space trying to reach an imperial outpost. The navigation computer on his fighter had been damaged and he had indeed reached the right system but had crashed on the wrong side of the occupied moon. Tracking across the planet's plains trying to find a shuttle had been frustrating. His way back to the Empire was full with incompetent fools. Then the Emperor had called him to Coruscant for a briefing. In the aftermath of which Vater had needed some time to recover and to sort out some important affairs such as how to get his hands on the rebellion's jede without his master noticing.

As soon as he had returned to the fleet he found out that some overly ambitious naval commanders had become impatient in his absence. They had moved against the rebels without his leave and failed to capture them. The rebels had been sitting ducks, trapped mice. But somehow they had escaped an inescapable trap.

Now Vader had to find a new commander for the eleventh fleet after Commander Bosko's untimely demise. The cause of death was complete and utter incompetence. The fool had let the rebels escape. Using the Telosian blockade it should have been a sure and decisive victory for the imperial fleet. If implemented the right way it was a near infallible strategy, Vader knew that. He forcefully repressed the memory of its first implementation. He knew the only explanation for the rebels' disappearance was that the execution of the plan was flawed.

Now he needed to find the Alliance again and if he had to look under every rock in the galaxy he would find them and their Jedi and he would turn him into a suitable apprentice.

After what he felt during the attack on the Death Star Vader knew that the Jedi was training was incomplete at best. But that suited him just fine. The Force sensitive wouldn't be to set in his ways and would easily succumb to the temptations of the Dark Side.

The Sith Lord was torn from his meditation when the com-unit rang. He had a few different com links, one for his official contacts, one for his private contacts but only his personal healer and the caretaker of his castle on Vjun had the number for that one. Colonel Yularen had another number, one Vader used to coordinate all his spies and informants. And there was the one he used for his contacts in the Inquisition.

Vader frowned. The only one who had reason to contact him right now was the Inquisition and that meant he would probably get more unpleasant news. His mood deteriorating further the Dark Lord answered the call after re sealing his helmet.

The hologram flickered to life. The Sister of the Inquisition Brotherhood knelt obediently before him.

"Sister" Vader acknowledged her presence.

Her head still bowed she answered. "My Lord"

"What do have to report?" Vader practically growled.

"I call from the planet Gandeal where I picked up a Force sensitive child." It was a duty of the Inquisition to make sure that those Force sensitives where either killed or received training by the Inquisition, a training most didn't survive. When they had no other pressing matters to attend to they followed those standing orders.

Vader slowly raised his hand and clenched it. The Inquisitor clawed at the invisible hand constricting her throat. He wouldn't choke her to death but he was already in a bad mood and his patience was running thin. "I have no interest in your insignificant little side jobs. Get to the point Inquisitor."

"I encountered a survivor of the Purge on Gandeal." She wheezed.

He let her go.

She was used to this and despite his treatment of her Vader knew that she was loyal to him. She had been since Vader had stepped into the cell she had resided in since her capture by the Jedi and told her that the corrupt Jedi and the even corrupter Republic were gone. He had offered her a place in the newly formed Empire to help bring peace, order and security to the galaxy and she had accepted.

"Continue."

"I encountered him during a raid by the ISB. They were about to arrest a Rebel informant who was meeting rebel contacts. I was bored and helped them out. One of the rebels had a strong unshielded presence in the Force, similar to that of a half trained Padawan in his teenage years. He recognized me as a former member of the Order."

"Do you have graphic material of this Force wielder?" Could this Jedi Padawan be the one from the Death star?

The Inquisitor nodded. "I'm sending the recordings of the operation." She worked on her comm unit and inserted a data disk. "Do you wish for me to hunt him down?"

Vader opened the file and watched the scene play out. He stopped the recording when the camera had got a good view of the Jedi's face. It showed a human man in his late twenties or early thirties with a familiar, clean-shaven face wielding an even more familiar blue coloured lightsaber. Anger and hatred welled up in his chest. Kenobi had done what he had always denied his first apprentice. Kenobi had sired a child.

Now more than ever Vader wished to break the Jedi and turn him into an apprentice kneeling obediently at Vader's feet. His revenge would be absolute.

"No. I will take care of this myself."

AN: Sorry for my long absence. I have no good excuse for not writing other than I didn't feel like it the last few months. Never the less I hope you enjoyed reading and as always have a nice day.  
Kayarde


	8. Chapter 8

Obi-Wan woke at 0500 hours in the morning. His inner clock had worked that way since he had been a padawan and more often than not he had to drag his student out of bed during, as Anakin called it, this ungodly hour. He had expected that he would have to do the same with Anakin's son, so he was pleasantly surprised when he learned that Luke was an early riser. Luke must have learned it growing up on a moisture farm where the best time to collect dew was in the early hours of the morning.

Leia on the other hand was as bad as Anakin when it came to waking up in the morning. Anything before 0900 was considered the dead of the night and if one approached her, before she had had her first cup of whatever caffeinated drink she got her hands on, she was as fearsome as a Krayt-dragon.

After they had finished their morning exercises Obi-Wan and Luke knocked at her door at 0600 (they had decided to give her a leeway of an hour). She was less than pleased. Her hair was in a messy braid and she was wearing an oversized shirt and slacks.

"Good morning Leia." Obi-Wan greeted her. "It's time to start with your training in the ways of the Force." He smiled at her. She looked as if she wanted to murder him.

Luke grinned as if he was the rising sun himself and held a cup of caf under her nose. She glared at Luke then the cup and then back at Luke before snatching it from his hand and shutting the door in their faces.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and gave Luke a questioning look. The youth grinned up at his teacher. "I told you I had a reason to stop in the mess hall."

When Leia emerged from her cabin for the second time she looked every bit the Princess that she was.

The three of them settled in an out of the way cargo hold between large supply containers and an X-wing. It was quiet save for the monotonous hum of the hyperspace generator. Later that morning the Yavin fleet would rendezvous with Admiral Ackbar's fleet of rebels for an important strategy meeting. They had yet to decide how to proceed in their fight against the Empire.

Obi-Wan sat cross-legged across from his two students. He resisted the urge to pinch his nose. He had no clue how to start the lesson or go on with it. The concept of controlling his emotions was something he had grown up. How should he explain it to two young adults who were already set in their ways?

"I don't know how to explain something I've known ever since I was a child. So if you have any questions or have problems understanding, feel free to ask." Both nodded with a look of concentration and in Luke's case childish eagerness on their faces.

"When you unintentionally use your emotions to start movement in the Force it is dangerous enough. Then there is the echo of these emotions that return to you. If you sent an emotion into the Force, the Force sends an echo back at you amplifying your emotions which in turn amplifies the waves you send into the Force. We saw the effects on the physical plane yesterday. It started with a light tremor but the longer the interaction between Force and emotion went on the stronger the tremor became until ultimately the resulting quake would have brought the temple down on us."

Obi-Wan took breath to continue his lecture when he saw Luke raising his hand as if in school. "Does that mean that when you use your emotions you become stronger in the Force?" The young man asked.

Obi-Wan sighed. He had wanted to come to the Dark Side later. But now that the subject came up he needed to get the idea out of Luke's head again, immediately, before the boy got any wrong ideas.

"When one focuses the Force through too much emotion it leads them down a dark path. This especially is the case when you use darker emotions like anger, fear or hatred. Those are the emotions that are predominant during battle. In the beginning one might have good intentions since using one's anger in a fight can give you great strength. But as time progresses and you use this method again and again you will lose your goals. You start serving only yourself and your own selfish interests. You 'll become a tool of destruction and ruin."

Luke kneaded his hands. "Is that the Dark Side you are talking about?"

"Yes. It is. Where have you heard about it?" Obi-Wan frowned. The topic was hardly something you'd discuss at the dinner table.

"Ben mentioned it once. He said Vader was seduced by the Dark Side."

Obi-Wan laid a hand on his chin. "That is certainly a way to put it. You have to understand that I'm not an expert when it comes to the Dark Side. I did use my anger in a fight when I was younger and thus I skittered to the Dark too close for comfort. But I only have second hand accounts on what it feels like to be a Fallen one." Obi-Wan paused and thought back on all the Darksiders he had faced during his live. Xanatos, Maul, Ventress, Dooku, Aurra Sing to name just a few.

"Apparently following the Dark Side is intoxicating. That feeling of power is more addictive than any known substance in the galaxy. From ramblings from some of my opponents I gathered that the Dark Side creates the illusion of grandeur and invincibility. Driving every clear thought out of your head until nothing is left but the desire to re-experience that state of power. You are willing to do anything to reach it again even burning the galaxy to the ground. Over time you will lose everything that makes you You. To become completely Fallen means that you care for nothing anymore but the desire to dominate everything around you and you are willing to sacrifice anything to fulfill that need." Obi-Wan relayed what he had researched on the Dark Side as a young Padawan. What he had learned back then had scared him so badly that it had followed him into his nightmares for the following years.

In a way the concept could be applied to non-force-sensitive beings as well. If a being was consumed by his need for revenge said being would sacrifice everything to satisfy that need. The only difference was the amount of damage a force-sensitive being could do compared to everyone else. And force-blind beings had an easier time escaping the clutch of these feelings. Fallen Jedi were caught and chained by the tendrils of the dark side that slowly but surely destroyed them.

Obi-Wan looked deep into their eyes. "You mustn't use your emotions when connecting to the Force." He emphasized.

"Does that mean we should never feel emotions again?" Leia asked, stark disapproval coloring her voice.

"I never said that. I said that you should control your emotions so that you don't tap into the Force using them as a focus."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The young woman was still skeptical about the whole concept.

"That you only should use the Force when your mind is calm. Using your emotions to touch the Force is like using a crutch. It is the easier and faster way but it comes at the price. Using your emotions to reach the Force is like pulling her by her hair. Nobody likes that and the Force retaliates by destroying you. The other way to touch the Force is through a calm state of mind. That way the Force comes to you."

Leia raised an eyebrow. "And when you are in a battle what then?"

"With enough training you should be able to stay calm in combat situations as well."

"What happens when someone has used the Dark Side once?" Luke asked.

"Once you follow down that dark path it will always control your destiny. There is no turning back." Obi-Wan cited half remembering Yoda when the wise old Master had first taught him the concept as a child. It took him back to the temple with its light flooded halls and serene warm atmosphere. He thought of the Jedi, his family, of Anakin who had always scraped along the fine line between light and darkness. Deep rooted sadness filled his mind and led his thoughts to the destruction of his family and home. Again he felt the dark stretching its cold tendrils towards him whispering promises of power and revenge in his ears. Shaking his head he broke off, took a deep breath and reorganized his thoughts. Lately Obi-Wan was brushing with the Dark Side far too often and the cold emptiness of the Force certainly wasn't helping his state of mind.

"The best way to stop addiction is to never taste the drug. The Jedi felt the same about the Dark Side of the Force. So…" Obi-Wan changed position so that he was now sitting on his knees. "What I'm going to teach you is a basic meditation to calm your mind. The goal of this exercise is to feel the Force and let it flow through you without imposing your will on it."

He told them to focus on their breathing and let go of everything else. As with most things; it was easier said than done. Obi-Wan sank into the trance easy enough but Luke and Leia had their difficulties. Whenever he made an attempt on meditating they disturbed him, Luke with his desire to move, to do something but eventually he sank into an uneasy trance. Leia flooded the Force with her growing feelings of frustration. Perhaps it was the first time in her life that she couldn't do something on the first try. Between her intelligence and her Force sensitivity she had never had to put effort into something. Anakin had been the same. He too would grow easily frustrated when something wouldn't work the first time and then start throwing a tantrum.

Obi-Wan opened an eye and peered at her, amused. "You know. The goal of this exercise is to alleviate frustration and anger not to accumulate it."

"I'm trying." Leia retorted frowning.

"That is the problem. You are trying too hard. Either you let go of your thoughts or you don't." He smiled at her reassuringly. Reaching out with his hands he touched her temples and with the Force he touched her mind. "Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, inhale into your stomach, feel the air flowing into your lungs, hold it there for a moment and then let go. Let the air take all your worries, your fears, your anxieties with it when it leaves your body. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. "His voice became quieter until it was barely more than a whisper. As before Obi-Wan's voice created the image of a vast ocean, its waves played at her ankles inviting her to take a swim in its warm waters. Letting go of the shore Leia stepped into the water and let her mind be carried by the gentle waves.

The currents carried her away and she became aware of a presence next to her. It permeated the waves around her. It was as warm and gently as the sun in spring touching the earth and encouraging the plants to grow. There was a faint connection between them barely more than a thread of light. She wanted to steer in the direction of the light. Gently she reached out and the presence reached back.

The moment they touched she knew it was Luke. Surprise and happiness rippled through the Force and the thread grew instantaneously from something nearly non-existent to a bond as strong as durasteel and as broad as a river.

_Leia? _A voice asked. She didn't hear it rather she felt the question, felt it resonate with her being, and with utter conviction she knew it was Luke.

_Luke. _She answered and mentally reached out with her hand. He took it. They opened their eyes and stared at each other in amazement.

"Luke" she exclaimed the same second he called "Leia"

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Would you two care to let me take part in your conversation?"

"Master! Leia and I, we have a bond." Luke grinned like a maniac.

"What!" Obi-Wan cried out. Normally it took more than one shared meditation to establish a connection in the Force.

Leia nodded. "I can't explain it. It was just there small but there and-"

"-when we reached out to each other with the Force it became stronger. It was like remembering a long forgotten memory." Luke finished.

Obi-Wan could only stare at his two students. He could feel the brightening Force around them lighting up the emptiness. He had never seen anything like this before. It was such a beautiful sight only comparable to the first light of dawn after a starless night. The Force playfully intertwined their Force-signatures that it became difficult to distinguish where one began and the other ended. Their presences in the Force amplified each other to the point where it almost was like watching a supernova.

When the two young humans grinned at one another Obi-Wan was hit with the familiarity of the expression and he promptly wanted to forget the thought that crossed his mind.

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to voice his thoughts when the door was tossed open by a pilot. Why did the man show up now? The man stopped short when he saw the three sitting on the floor. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Finally I've found you princess, commander. The general wanted to inform you that we're about to come out of hyperspace in a few. He wanted to hold a meeting before we meet up with Admiral Ackbar. And when you weren't in your room he grew worried and sent my squad to find you."

Leia huffed and threw Luke and Obi-Wan an annoyed look. Obviously she remembered that they had dragged her out of bed far too early. Luke grinned apologetic at something she sent over their newly rediscovered bond. Obi-Wan sighed. He would have to discuss his theory some other time. "Tell General Dodonna that we are on the way."

He turned to the two young people. "We'll resume the exercises tomorrow at the same time."

He allowed himself to smile at Leia's murderous glare.

* * *

Obi-Wan had met Gial Ackbar once during the Clone Wars in the aftermath of the Battle of Mon Cala. He had had to pick up Anakin and Ahsoka for their next mission. He had gained the impression that the Mon Calamari was a severe being who stood by his principles even if it might cost him his live. But that was all he could recall.

Now sitting across from Ackbar at the conference table Obi-Wan confirmed this initial impression.

Ackbar acknowledged Obi-Wan with a raised eyebrow and a respectful nod. He even had a slight smile on his lips when Luke who stood behind Obi-Wan's chair was introduced. Most likely Ackbar remembered the boy's father and his special brand of problem solving. But they didn't exchange words.

The next several hours the rebel command spent discussing their limited resources and how to best utilize them. In the aftermath of the destruction of Alderaan there had been an influx of new recruits. All of the sudden everyone wanted to fight against the evil empire. All of these people need equipment and provisions. If there was something Obi-Wan had learned during the Clone Wars it was that the supply lines and logistics often decided a battle. Without supplies, food, clothing and weaponry, one could not hope to win anything. Armies marched on their stomach, after all. The Separatists' droids had a similar problem as well. They could recharge easily enough using the local sun as an energy source but they needed oil for their joints and coolant for their machinery.

The same principles applied to the Alliance. Though any rebellion had the more motivated soldiers even they could not survive on hope and righteous anger alone. Recently Ackbar's fleet had run into some trouble resupplying. The imperials had started to move against their suppliers. It worried the Alliance; a circumstance which had Mon Mothma, the political leader of the rebellion, renegotiating their business contracts. And of course there was always the problem of financing their fight against the Empire.

After deciding on their supply routes and coming up with preliminary plans for building their new base on Hoth General Dodonna breached another pressing matter. "After the battle above Yavin we received some important intelligence. Apparently the Empire is building a second Deathstar." Obi-Wan gave Ackbar some credit that he didn't react to this lovely piece of information with more than a grave nod. "But we have no idea where that might be happening. During your captivity and servitude for Tarkin you learned more about imperial large-scale project than our spies. We had hoped you could help us narrow the possible locations down." Dodonna pushed the datapad across the table for the admiral to scroll through the information.

The Mon Calamari frowned. "I'm afraid I can't help you. According to the dates the first shipments of materials started after I escaped." An expression of slight disappointment crossed the general's face. "But I know someone who might be able to get us the needed information or at least where we can find it. I think I know where to find Fulcrum."

Next to Obi-Wan Leia inhaled sharply. Confused he turned to her. "Who is Fulcrum?"

She leaned in and explained to Obi-Wan and Luke in a low voice over the excited murmurs that filled the room. "For years Fulcrum was the only connection between the different rebel cells. He is the center point of an enormous intelligence network. He organized contacts, business deals and recruitment. I thought he died during the destruction of Alderaan where he was supposed to meet with my father. My father was the only person who knew who hid behind that alias."

She interrupted herself for a moment before she whispered only for them to hear. "There are rumors that Fulcrum was a Jedi." Shocked he turned towards the young woman. According to the imperial data stored in Arfour the Jedi were well and truly wiped out, purged from the galaxy. Even the possibility of a survivor made hope flare up in a way it physically hurt. Sure he had Luke and Leia and the Rebellion to think about but whenever he touched the Force he was reminded of what was lost. Where there once were thousands of shining lights, his brothers and sisters in the Force, there was now only darkness. Here and there were small lights but those were few and far between. The Force felt colder than before, empty. And when he listened he could still hear the echoes of betrayal, pain, sadness and despair, things his brethren experienced in their final moments, emotions that haunted the young Jedi master on a regular basis. Even the mention of a survivor, someone who might have known him, made Obi-Wan's heart ache with hope. Sure Kenobi had mentioned Master Yoda's survival but in all his meditation's Obi-Wan had yet to hear a whisper of the old master in the Force. For all he knew Yoda might have succumbed to his old age. This, this Fulcrum was something more tangible.

"A few hours ago my communications officer picked up a distress signal on our encrypted channels. It originated from the ruins of Caamas. We were able to establish contact with the sender and identified himself with the correct code. His ship crashed and is beyond repair. Now after six weeks on the planet's surface Fulcrum's supplies are dwindling fast. He is in need of extraction." Ackbar continued after the murmurs had quieted down.

General Willard nodded. "Of course he needs extraction. Fulcrum is the head of our intelligence network after all. I don't want to imagine what would happen if he fell into imperials hands." But then he frowned. "But Caamas lies in the Core and it will be difficult to travel there unnoticed." The densities of stars in the Core was high which meant that outside the established hyperspace routes one had to perform shorter jumps in order to avoid flying through a star. Unfortunately Caamas had no junction to those routes. So they would have to make small jumps and in the Core with its strong imperial presence they would often risk discovery.

After the discussion it was decided that Obi-Wan and Luke should handle the mission again based on the fact that they had been able to extract Reyes from Gandeal with relative ease.

They would be able to fight their way out if needed.

AN: Sooo. After half a year of silence I'm back. Hopefully the next update won't take that long...  
Story wise I'm going to ignore the Rebels series but I'm going to include information from the book 'Ahsoka'.  
I hope you enjoyed reading and have a nice day.


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